Pokémon Origins - The Green Files
by PokeOCChronicler
Summary: Based on the anime. Red and Blue were not the only ones that Professor Oak asked to complete the pokédex. Green, their childhood best friend, was too. What will Green discover on her journey?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there!**

 **This will be my first pokémon fanfic and I hope its received well. But, before you read this I have a couple of things I want to say.**

 **First of all, while I have listed this story as a romance with a pairing between Green and Blue, it will be a slow burn. This means that the romance is going to be slow. So slow that I can tell you right now that they will not be getting together until the last chapter. I'm sorry if you want romance right off the bat. But, from where the two characters will be starting off, it would simply be impossible. Both Green and Blue need to grow as characters (in my mind) before they could possibly become a couple. Before you possibly stop reading this story, I do promise that there will be some fluff between them to make it up to you all as well as to progress their relationship.**

 **Secondly, this story will be 4 chapters long. One chapter for each episode.**

 **Next, I am not sure when I will be able to update. I have written up the transcripts for the episodes but I have yet to incorporate my character into it and with my hectic work schedule I am not sure when I can. So, please be patient with me and I promise to get it up as soon as I can.**

 **Lastly, I must give the standard disclaimer. No, I do not own Pok** **é** **mon. I wish I did though.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

* * *

File 1

 _Hello there! And welcome to the world of pokémon. My name is Professor Oak. I'm often referred to as the pokémon professor. There are some very interesting creatures that inhabit this world and, as you may be aware, they are known the world over quite simply as pokémon. For some people, pokémon are pets while others enjoy using them for battle. We find ourselves coexisting in various styles. Are you interested in learning about this pokémon world? I'll be your guide to a story of dreams and adventure. Now, the world of pokémon awaits._

 _Let's get started!_

 **~8~**

"No! No! No! Don't you dare faint on me!" A disgruntled young woman hissed at the TV in front of her. She was currently seated on her bedroom floor, jerking a little bit from how hard she was smashing buttons on her Nintendo 64 controller. Of course, her character in the game had multiple health packs for the girl to use, but she had wanted to save them for a later level which would not be the case if she didn't figure out a way to defeat this boss.

"Green?! Green!" A voice echoed through the open door to the girl's bedroom and down the hallway where the owner of the voice, her mother, was located at. Green did her best to ignore her mother. But, she inherited her persistence from her mother, so it was unsurprising that the older woman kept yelling for her daughter while simultaneously walking towards her room.

"Green! How many times do I have to tell you not to sit that close to the TV and with your curtains closed?! Do you know what damage you are doing to your eyes?!" Her mother scolded the oblivious teen. Green didn't even blink or acknowledge her mother, still mashing the buttons with ferocity accompanied with creative PG curses under her breath.

"Green!" Her mother hissed as she finally walked into the room and yanked the game controller out of her daughter's hands.

"No, Mommy! I almost had it!" Green whined as she quickly stretched her arms up before her in the attempts to take the controller back before her character died, hopping a little in her seated position since her legs were still entangled together. Her eyes also kept flitting back and forth between her mother, the controller in her mother's hand, and the TV screen to see how badly her character was getting beaten. But, of course, her mother managed to keep the device just out of Green's reach.

"Well, you can almost have it, whatever 'it' is. Or do you want to hear the news I have from Professor Oak?" Her mother taunted and choose the perfect words because Green's brown eyes snapped up to her mother's and away from the controller and TV they had been trained on for nearly two hours now.

"Professor Oak?" Green repeated, excitement brightening her whole countenance.

Could it be?

"Yes, apparently he has finished whatever it is and needs you to go to his lab immediately." Her mother replied in amusement at the reversal in her daughter's attitude.

"Sweet!" Green then jumped up from the floor, almost tripped over herself and fall face first to the ground if she hadn't managed to catch herself on her TV stand, and then she quickly rushed out of the room without further word or thought about her mother or the game she was so invested in a minute ago. Green had barely made it to the main door of the house and was jumping around, trying to get her shoes on, by the time her mother had joined her and shut the door that Green was trying to open during her hopping exercise.

"Hold on now, young lady. Don't forget your hat, no need to pass out and die of heat exhaustion in your haste to get to Professor Oak's." Her mother lightly scolded and held out the aforementioned hat to an exasperated Green.

"Yes, Mom. Love you." Green exclaimed as she took the hat from her mother's hand and went on her tip-toes to kiss her mother on the cheek. Green did not manage to inherit her mother's height, but she hoped that she hasn't finished growing at fourteen.

Surely she could gain a couple of more inches instead of being stuck at this terribly short height for the rest of her life, right?

"Love you too, sweetheart. Don't stay out too late!" Her mother called out since Green had opened the door and sprinted past it. Green turned on her heel, still moving away from the house, as she placed the hat on top of her head and gave her mother one last wave. But, the bright and excited smile did not drop once as she raced farther and farther away.

It was possibly the beginning of an adventure!

 **~8~**

Green did not even slow down once as she entered the center of Pallet Town. Green didn't even look away from the route she needed to take to get to Professor Oak's laboratory the fastest way possible. Maybe if she had, then Green would not have ran straight into the similarly-minded Red. This collision sent them both on their butts in the middle of the side walk right next to the town fountain.

"Ow, ow, ow." Both teens muttered as they rubbed the side of their arms and then heads, basically any area that were hit in the collision. They then helped themselves off from the ground before simultaneously patting the dirt off their perspective hats. When they finally looked at the other, they shared identical excited smiles.

"So, your mom got the message too?" Green asked brightly.

"Yeah! It's finally done!" Red replied just as brightly. To many of the people who lived in Pallet Town, it was unsurprising to see such identical expressions and reactions between Red and Green. It was unsurprising because everyone in Pallet Town knew that Red and Green grew up practically in the same cradle, their mothers being best friends, the boy and girl becoming best friends themselves since they could consciously recognize one another as toddlers. Because they grew up so closely to one another, they naturally had similar mannerisms and could read the other like an open book to this day.

"Come on then, let's go!" Red exclaimed as he grabbed Green's hand to drag her along with him. Green at first jolted from the fast action, she even had to quickly grab her hat with her other hand to make sure it didn't fall off, before she started to run beside Red instead of behind him. Well, Green was a little slower than Red but she was no longer being tugged on from being too far behind her friend.

 **~8~**

"Hey there, Green, Red. Wait a second, lemme guess. Did Gramps call you too?" Someone asked, pulling the two friends' attention away from the entrance to Professor Oak's lab.

The two best friends ran hand in hand straight to Professor Oak's lab after their collision before they stopped in unison in front of the laboratory's entrance. They even took a minute to absorb the moment together, take a breath before their adventure begins and everything changes. Of course, their moment was ruined by the arrival of another teen.

Blue.

Red and Green did not grow up in the same cradle alone. There was a third and that was Blue. All three of their mothers were pregnant at the same time and bonded over the experience. That friendship grew stronger once they had given birth and decided to raise their children together. But, while Red and Green grew up to be similar to one another, Blue was different from the two. He was quite arrogant from the fact that he was the grandson of the great Professor Oak and felt that he could never do any wrong. The last belief of his was cemented for the young man because he had a natural talent for everything and anything he set his mind to. If he was ever challenged, he would get quite rude and competitive. However, Blue was also quite loyal and was always very reliable to those he cared for.

For the longest time, they were a happy trio. They were constantly running around the playground together, were table neighbors in class, and experienced everything childhood could have to offer the three. But, that all changed once they hit puberty. While the relationship between Red and Green remained strong and relatively the same with a few minor adjustments, their perspective relationship with Blue changed drastically. Blue and Red became rivals in nearly everything, although, it never became vicious or mean-spirited. It was just taunts and the push to be better. Or at least that is the only aspect of their rivalry that Green saw between the two. As for Blue and Green…that was a bit more complicated.

Blue and Green were still friends…of a sort. While Red and Green spent as much time with each other as possible, the only time Green and Blue would hang out it seemed was on Blue's terms and those terms so happened to coincide whenever Blue realized that Green was with Red. Blue would see them together and immediately react by either picking a fight with Red, which would force Green to leave after a while since she could not handle the both of them when they got like that, or Blue would actually drag Green away with some excuse. Those were the only times Blue actively sought out Green's company. If it were not for the fact that Blue would always agree to hang out with Green whenever she asked, Green would have thought Blue didn't see her much more than a pawn in the rivalry between the two boys.

Did Green have any possible explanation as to why Blue would act this way? No…no, she did not. Eventually, Green gave up on trying to understand Blue's actions and just went with the flow, so to speak. So long as her friendship with both Blue and Red individually remained intact, Green didn't care about the boys' reasons and actions in their rivalry.

"Yeah, we heard it's done." Green replied to Blue's question, her excited smile still stuck on her face.

"Yes!" Red responded as well and followed it up by raising their clasped hands in the air. Neither Red nor Green noticed the way Blue's eyes narrowed at the gesture. The best friends were too busy sharing silly grins with one another.

"Let's go in now, Red." Green suggested once her eyes trailed back over to the large wooden doors. Her body was starting to vibrate from anticipation and excitement.

"Yeah." Red agreed readily again and moved to take a step forward, hand still clasped with Green's unconsciously.

"Sorry…" Blue grabbed their attention once more. He did so easily because it was extremely rare for Blue to ever apologize. So, Red and Green stopped to actually hear what Blue had to say.

"But, I'm going in first." Blue rapidly finished his statement before bursting into a sprint. He ran right through Red and Green's hands, forcing them a part as he continued straight to the doors. The two best friends were stunned for a moment at Blue's fake out.

"Wait! I won't let you!" Red immediately shouted after he got over the shock. He then proceeded to run after Blue and through the now open doors. Green simply continued to blink before inhaling a deep breath that became an exasperated sigh shortly afterwards. But, within the next moment, her good mood returned with the thought of what awaited her beyond those doors. Instead of running after her two friends, Green took another moment for herself.

To prepare for her life-altering adventure.

 **~8~**

Green calmly walked through the lab and towards her childhood friends who were now locked in a heated pushing match with clasped hands. Not a surprising scene to be greeted with, one she is actually accustomed to.

"What's all this ruckus about?" Professor Oak called out as he approached the two boys.

"Professor!"

"Gramps!" The young men called out simultaneously.

"Just the usual, Professor." Green replied as she reached the boys, only to be left behind once more since the two ran forward to greet the pokémon professor.

"Is it done?" Both Red and Blue asked in unison. It would be this situation that would have the two rivals on the same wavelength for the first time in years. The professor chuckled when he noticed Green seemed to scamper forward at the mention of why the trio were at his lab, her exasperation all forgotten. Once all three teens were lined up, Green standing in between the boys in order to prevent any more squabbles, Professor Oak pulled out the red device in his pocket.

"Mhm. This is the pokédex." Professor Oak finally answered the boys' previous question. He then handed it to Green who held it almost reverently while the boys on either side of her leaned in closer to get a better look.

"The pokédex." Red mumbled in awe, the first out of the three to finally say something. Although, he didn't take his eyes off it like the other two.

"Yes, it automatically records all the data on the pokémon you've caught. It's a high tech encyclopedia." Professor Oak explained as he then passed a pokédex to Red and Blue so each teen was holding one. When the boys moved to stare at the device in their hands, while Green remained focused on her own, Professor Oak knew he had made the right decision.

"Red, Blue, Green, listen." The professor started and the teens managed to drag their eyes away from the pokédex and towards the pokémon professor at how serious he sounded.

"You'll each receive one pokédex. I want you to do something very important: to make a complete guide to all the pokémon in the world. That has always been my dream." Professor Oak explained.

"It's been your dream?" Red asked, completely riveted by Professor Oak. They all were because the trio immediately understood the severity of the task entrusted to them. This wasn't going to be only life-changing for them, but for the professor as well should they complete this task.

"You see, the thing is, I'm too old to do it. It's quite difficult to travel all around, seeking all kinds of pokémon. So, now, I want the three of you to help fulfill my dream. Can I count on you?" Professor Oak asked.

"Yeah!" Red exclaimed first, both excited and determined to start.

"Of course you can, Professor!" Green added with equal enthusiasm.

"Now, Gramps, you haven't forgotten your promise, right? In exchange for us helping you out with this." Blue stated, changing the topic to what mattered the most to him. However, Red and Green were also equally excited and interested in this subject.

"I haven't forgotten." Professor Oak replied, only amused by his grandson's rather uncouth request. His response to Blue was quite normal since the professor had a blind spot when it came to how rude and insensitive his grandson could be.

Professor Oak then led the trio further into his lab and towards a darkened area. The teens could vaguely make out the shapes of the objects there, but the most prominent was a table. When they stopped, the light above the table lit up to reveal 3 red and white orbs resting on it.

"As you can see, there are three pokémon here. I'll give each of you the opportunity to choose one." Professor Oak explained what the three teens were looking at. During his statement, Red took a couple of steps forward unconsciously.

"The fire pokémon, Charmander." Professor Oak continued and the lighting changed to a spotlight over the specific pokéball that contained Charmander. Also, an image of the pokémon appeared on the wall screen behind the table.

"The water pokémon, Squirtle." Professor Oak moved to on to the next pokémon. On his cue, the spotlight and image changed. At this moment, it was Green who stepped forward, becoming in line with Red, This, too, was done unconsciously.

It was just so exciting!

"The plant pokémon, Bulbasaur." Professor Oak announced the last choice. Once again, the spotlight and image changed. This time, it was Blue to step forward. The teens were back in line, but they didn't notice or care. They were all looking starry-eyed at the three pokéballs before them.

"Now then, you may choose the one you like." Professor Oak told them, amused but happy at their reactions. He had not seen them so in sync with another since they were young children.

"Well, since I'm a gentleman and not greedy like Red here, why don't you choose first, Green?" Blue stated with an accompanied wink to the girl.

"Wha-? I'm not greedy! I agree that ladies should go first!" Red blustered in defense.

"Thank you." Green smiled brightly at each boy, not even questioning their intentions because she really wanted to pick out her pokémon already. She has been since Professor Oak brought them over.

"Now, think carefully before you choose." Professor Oak cautioned her as Green took a small step towards the table. The anticipation of the moment had Green becoming quite serious.

The pokémon she would pick today will be the one to walk beside her towards her destiny…

Or at least that was Green's rather dramatic feelings about the decision she was going to have to make.

She is a teenage girl. Sue her.

Her eyes flitted over each pokéball, already having memorized which pokémon was housed inside it. There was another moment that passed in which Green inhaled a deep breath and pivoted in her spot. A slightly trembling hand reached out and picked up a pokéball.

A decision has been made.

"Bulbasaur, I see." Professor Oak's voice barely broke through the haze in Green's mind as she stared in awe at the small object in her hand.

"Mhm…Can I take her out, Professor?" Green hummed distractedly before she asked the question in an excited rush. She wanted to meet her pokémon partner, now!

"Of course, my dear." Professor Oak chuckled with a nod of his head. Green let out a squeal of delight before she tossed the pokéball high into the air. The seed pokémon immediately burst out of its pokéball and fell into Green's arms happily.

"Hello there, my name is Green. You and I are going to be great friends." The young girl introduced herself and Bulbasaur responded back with equal enthusiasm.

"You are just too adorable! Especially with that leaf marking on your forehead. Look at that guys!" Green exclaimed, completely smitten and proud of the pokémon she had chosen.

"Yeah, very cute." Red agreed with his best friend's assessment and patted Bulbasaur's head from where Green was holding out the pokémon for the two boys to examine. Internally, Red was just glad that she didn't pick his first choice.

"Adorable." Blue almost deadpanned as he used the same term Green did to describe her pokémon partner, clearly humoring his friend. However, Blue was curious about the seed pokémon as he nudged (more like pushed) Red out of the way to interact with Bulbasaur as well.

"I'm glad that you like Bulbasaur so much already, Green. But, let's have the boys choose next, so that they may be able to meet their new friends too." Professor Oak spoke up and brought them all back to the matter at hand. Both Red and Blue immediately straightened up and directed their gazes to the remaining to pokéballs while Green nodded her head and brought Bulbasaur closer to her chest so as to snuggle the pokémon. Bulbasaur let out a small coo in contentment as Green then took a step back in line with the boys.

"So, who is next? Blue? Red?" The pokémon professor prompted.

"I already stated that I'm not greedy, so Red can go ahead." Blue repeated himself and leaned on his right foot so as to be closer to Green and Bulbasaur. But, while Blue started to pet the Bulbasaur, he kept his smirk and sight directly on Red. This time, Red did not take offense or try to respond to Blue's taunts because he was too focused on the thought of finally choosing his own poképartner.

"Very well. Red, remember what I told Green before she picked Bulbasaur. You should think carefully before you choose between Charmander and Squirtle." Professor Oak reminded the teen boy who barely listened to him due to his tunnel vision on the pokéballs.

"No need, I've already decided." Red answered as he stepped forward and picked up the round object in the middle of the table.

"Oh, Charmander." Professor Oak commented aloud.

"That's right. It wasn't really a tough decision. The thing is, my dad gave me the name Red, hoping when I grew up it would help me to have the passion and energy of a red, hot fire. So, now, I've decided that my first pokémon should be a fire pokémon that will help me live up to the name my father gave me." Red explained as he tossed the pokéball into the air just like Green did previously. Similarly, Charmander was released into the air with a cry.

"It's my…pokémon!" Red said in awe as he caught Charmander and held him close.

"I see. Well then, it seems that everyone will be receiving a pokémon that will coincide with their name." Professor Oak commented as he happened to notice the pattern since Blue would be left with Squirtle.

"Heh, I would never choose my pokémon for such a ridiculous reason. But, since Red choose fire, it is obvious that I would get water!" Blue replied mockingly before he grabbed the remaining pokéball and mimicked the other two teens of releasing and catching his new poképartner.

Green begrudgingly agreed with Blue's rather rude comment about Red's reasoning as to why he picked Charmander. Yes, it is quite ridiculous to pick your pokémon partner based on the color you were named with. Even if the sentiment was sincere when Red mentioned his father. Green felt this way because she did not particularly care for her name. At first, she never minded it because she did not openly associate it with the color. But, growing up with people constantly asking you if your favorite color was green (or why it isn't green) and picking green-colored items as gifts…it gets really old, really fast. As well as really irritating.

Blue was on the same wave length as her when it came to his namesake color. Hence why they made a pact when they were six that their favorite colors would be each other's name. So, whenever they received the typical question of why their favorite color wasn't their namesake, they would explain that their favorite color was associated with their best friend. Also, should they receive any color-coordinated present the other wanted, they would simply and slyly swap them amongst themselves.

Eventually, the two friends actually believed their pact. Blue's favorite color was green and Green's was blue. Which would explain why they wore the colored outfits like they did. Their mothers', including Red's, picked out their clothes with their favorite colors in mind. Blue got a green jacket and Green now wore a blue sleeveless top with matching knee-high socks. However, Red did get quite jealous that he was not in on this color pact when he found out at the tender age of six. It was nothing personal, but Red's favorite color was his namesake so the two didn't think he would want to change it. But, to appease Red, Green made sure to always say that red was her second favorite color and that she had red mixed into her outfit color scheme such as her red skirt and red accents on her hat and tennis shoes.

Blue was definitely not happy about that once they got older and the rivalry between Red and Blue sprouted. Blue would pick fights with Green to try to get her to change her mind. This would lead Red to jump into the fight and state that Green could wear his colors just like she did Blue's because he was her best friend as well. As things began to get out of control, Green simply sat the two boys down (more like pushed them to the ground during one particular out-of-hand fight) and told them that, in no-uncertain terms, they had absolutely no say in what colors she wore or liked. They may have influenced it, but she made the final decision. She was not going to let them use her as another reason for their rivalry. If they valued her friendship as much as they say they did, then they would listen to her or she would stop talking to them.

It was drastic, but it worked.

"By the way, you realize you could give your pokémon its own nickname if you so choose." Professor Oak stated in order to curb any potential squabbling over Blue's rather rude statement about Red's choice in picking his pokémon and brought Green out of her thoughts.

"A nickname?" Both Red and Green questioned simultaneously. They were also staring at their poképartners in concentration.

"Ok then, let's see…No, I think I'll keep the name 'Charmander'." Red announced after a beat of thought. Professor Oak simply nodded before turning his expectant gaze at the still thoughtful Green.

"I'm going to name you Gaia." Green finally announced once she deliberated over not only whether or not if she wanted to give Bulbasaur a nickname but also what her nickname should be. Bulbasaur let out a cry in agreement which had Green smile in happiness that she choose correctly for her new partner.

"Very fitting, Green." Professor Oak commented.

"Yeah, that's a great name." Red also stated which had Green redirecting her sunny smile that had moved from Bulbasaur to Professor Oak to Red in quick succession.

"Thanks!" Green replied.

"Hey, Red, what do you say? Should we test them out?...Eh, never mind. I wouldn't want the memory of my first battle to be against a measly beginner like you." Blue effectively broke the happy and excited bubble Green and Red were in with his statement. Green couldn't quite arch just one eyebrow and, instead, raised both of them at Blue's arrogance as well as at one crucial detail he seemed to be overlooking.

"You're a beginner too you know!" Red retorted with outrage, obviously catching onto the same pesky little detail as Green did.

"Maybe, but my ambitions are far greater than yours. Now that I have this Squirtle, you'll see. I'll become the best pokémon trainer in the whole world." Blue exclaimed with passion and determination before he tucked Squirtle under his arm and started running towards the exit.

"Well, Gramps, Green, gotta go!" Blue announced after a few rushed steps, not even looking back as he continued to make his way through the spacious lab.

"Alright! It's ok to aim high, but don't forget my request!" Professor Oak called out to his grandson which got Blue to stop right at the open doors and to turn back to look at them one last time.

"Leave it all to me! I got it covered." Blue waved the hand holding the pokédex in farewell before tucking the pokédex into his back pocket.

"Stay safe!" Green shouted and raised her own pokédex occupied hand in the air to wave back to Blue. Even though she was excited to start her own journey, it's not like Green forgot that she was separating from both Red and Blue. They were going to have to travel on their own to far off places in order to complete the pokédex like the pokémon professor requested of them.

Who knew what kind of dangers these three teens were going to have to face?

What difficulties are they going to have to overcome?

And they were going to have to do this all on their own with no one else's help.

It was daunting and overwhelming at times to think about for Green. So, she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and focus on the positive. Just because there was the potential that something bad could happen didn't mean that it would happen. Plus, would the professor really send them out into the world and entrust a pokémon to their care if he thought they would fail or get hurt?

"No problem. But, you stay safe too, alright Green?" Blue responded seriously because he must have sensed her thoughts.

"Mmm." Green audibly hummed with a tight-lipped smile and a small nod of her head. She tried on refocusing on the present and felt her previous excitement return in full force which helped her smile transform into a more genuine one. Blue's own serious expression changed as well as a rather cocky smile graced his face before he returned her nod with his own and then left through the door without further word.

"Oh, my…" Professor Oak sighed and rubbed the back of his neck at the obvious cockiness from Blue.

"He's your grandson after all, Professor." A female assistant chuckled at the whole scene. She was referring to not only Blue's arrogance but also to his interactions with the young girl. Not that the young teens understood the second, subtler, half of her reference.

"Yes, well, the truth is when I was young I was a serious pokémon trainer as well." The pokémon professor explained, only expanding upon where his grandson's attitude might have come from.

"Wow!" Green replied in surprise and open admiration. She shouldn't be really. How else was one to become a professor of pokémon without being a trainer at one point? Especially a world re-known pokémon professor the likes of Professor Oak. But, it was a bit difficult for the teenager to imagine the affable old man that she has known her whole life as someone like her, a young trainer who is just about to set off on her own adventure into the unknown with her brand new poképartner at her side.

"Pokémon trainer…" Red echoed quietly and looked down at his Charmander once more.

"Well, Red and Green, I'm counting on you two." Professor Oak stated to them.

"Right!" Red replied in determination as well as pushed his cap to face properly.

"We won't let you down!" Green promised with equal amounts of determination and enthusiasm. Despite some of her concerns, Green really wanted to not only help out the professor complete his dream but also go out on an adventure with her very own pokémon. She has had that dream ever since she was a little girl.

Yes, it was an ambiguous dream: simply travelling with a pokémon that solely belonged to her. So many people had bigger and more detailed dreams such as completing the pokédex or even being the best pokémon trainer there ever was. Not Green. She didn't know what was out there in the world beyond her small town. She could read every book in Pallet Town, but she did not believe that those books would adequately cover what was out there. Give her some idea, yes. Maybe even give her a general idea of what she will encounter. But, she just knew in her bones that there was more in the world than there is in her books. So, how could she limit her imagination, hopes, and dreams to just one thing?

Simple dreams and ambitions aside, Green was finally getting the adventure she always wanted and with Gaia the Bulbasaur at her side ready to go with her. What more could a teenaged girl ask for? Maybe the more important question is what lies in store for her?

 **~8~**

Route 1 that connected Pallet Town to Viridian City was a mixture of meadows and small forests. Because it was a combination of two habitats, there was a nice range of pokémon for Green to examine and catch. She has managed to catch 4 Rattatas and Caterpies in total so far. She thought it would be thorough of her to catch both genders of each pokémon for the pokédex to examine the differences between them. Unfortunately, there were other types of pokémon that reside in Rt. 1 that Green didn't want to catch at all, let alone twice. The type specifically is bird pokémon.

The house that Green grew up in was located right on the border of Pallet Town. In fact, the back of her house opened up into a meadow that wild pokémon sometimes played in when they felt safe and brave enough to exit the forest they called home. Whenever that did happen, Green would immediately go outside and try to play with the wild pokémon. Sometimes it worked and sometimes the pokémon would run away, but she was never attacked much to her parents' relief. However, that would change one fateful day when Green was plucked from the meadow she was playing in with a group of Oddishes by a Fearow. The Fearow carried Green straight to its nest filled with baby Spearows that started to peck at the already terrified little girl. Green, who was uncontrollably crying by this point, jerked and scooted her way out of the nest and down a couple of branches before she fell from the tree and landed on her elbow, effectively shattering it. When Green noticed the Fearow descending upon her a second time, her adrenaline kicked in for her to move past her pain and make a run for it. The little girl didn't know where she was going and only got herself more lost. It wouldn't be until three hours later when the rangers finally found Green, hiding in a hollow trunk with tears and snot covering her face and shivering in fear of any noise. It was safe to say that Green was no longer allowed to play in the meadow without supervision and she was never comfortable around bird pokémon.

The last part of the statement was actually an understatement. Green was officially terrified of any and all bird type pokémon…

Which explained why she was currently running for her life away from a little Pidgey who was on the ground simply pecking around for stray seeds and worms. Green and the Pidgey barely made eye contact before Green picked up a confused Gaia the Bulbasaur into her arms and bolted. Her reaction was pure instinct and Green didn't stop until she felt safely ensconced in a forest where it would be harder for a bird pokémon to follow or attack.

Actually…Green tripped over an exposed root in her haste to get away from the uninterested Pidgey. Green managed to tuck Gaia further into her embrace as she rolled out from the fall so that her pokémon would not be hurt from her mistake. Green landed on her back, Gaia the Bulbasaur resting on her stomach still puzzled about everything that just happened. The young girl immediately sat up once she caught her breath and only released it when she noticed no bird pokémon in the immediate vicinity.

"Bul-ba?" The grass starter questioned her trainer once she seemed like she wasn't going to bolt with the pokémon again.

"Sorry, Gaia. It's just…" Green started to reply, sighing at what her pokémon must be thinking about her after how she just reacted to one ittle-bitty Pidgey.

She wasn't acting quite like a capable and confident trainer, was she?

"You ran into a bird pokémon, didn't you?" A voice called from seemingly nowhere. Green snapped her head in the direction of the sound to spot Blue walking into her line of sight and out of the condensed forest that had hidden him previously. Green traitorously blushed as bright red as a ripe tomato.

It wasn't bad enough that her pokémon just witnessed her overreacting cowardice, but one of her best friends too! Not just one of her best friends, but the one who basically never did anything embarrassing ever and was scared of nothing?! No fair!

"I thought this might happen." Blue sighed in exasperation because her blush effectively answered his question for her. His response had Green bristling in irritation.

Between Blue and Red, Blue was never quite as understanding or comforting about this certain fear of hers. He thought she should be over it already since it happened years ago without another single bad incident with a bird pokémon. Red was the best friend Green turned to for comfort whenever she got close to a bird pokémon because he simply held her hand or gave her a hug as well as promised to always protect her just in case said bird pokémon turned on them. If Red thought she should have overcame her fear by now, he never said it and was a true supportive best friend that any girl could ask for.

"Yeah, well, it's over now. No biggie." Green replied as she stood up with Gaia the Bulbasaur still in her arms. She managed to shift her starter into one arm so she could use her free hand to brush off any dirt or debris of her skirt. Green was trying her hardest not to look Blue in the eye because her blush was just starting to cool down and she just knew that if she looked at Blue then her blush would come back in full force.

Curse her mother's genetics that made it so easy and noticeable to blush!

"No, Green, it's not 'no biggie'. This is a big deal." Blue disagreed and Green stiffened in preparation because she just knew what Blue was going to say. It's what he always says when she freaks out over a bird pokémon and Green was absolutely tired of the spiel.

"It has been years since you were captured by that Fearow. Long enough for you to realize that not all bird pokémon are going to hurt you, especially after all the non-attacking encounters we have had with bird pokémon. You especially should not be overreacting like you do every single time." Blue started and Green refused to look away from the Bulbasaur in her arms who was looking up at her in concern.

Yup, this is going just like all those other times…

"But, most importantly, you need to get over it now and quickly. Or how else are you going to complete the pokédex if you can't manage to be in the presence of any type of bird pokémon, let alone catch one?" Blue's next statement managed to get Green to snap her head in his direction and finally look him straight in the eyes. She was completely blindsided by his, actually, very good point.

Green promised Professor Oak that she would help him achieve his dream by completing the pokédex. How could she do that if she couldn't capture any bird pokémon? Was she doomed from the start? Did she just lie to the Professor and ultimately let him down?

How much more of a terrible person could she be?!

Yes, Blue and Red were also planning on completing the pokédex. It could be argued that she should just let them catch all the bird pokémon needed to finish the pokédex that way Professor Oak would get his completed pokédex. But… _she_ wanted to be the one to complete the pokédex for Professor Oak. _She_ wanted to be the one to make a man whom she viewed as her grandfather dream come true. Despite the fact that Blue was the only one out of the three that truly was his grandson by blood, Professor Oak treated Green and Red the same as he treated Blue and the two would never forget that. Both Green and Red wanted to repay his love and kindness by fulfilling his dream and Green certainly couldn't do that with a pokédex missing bird pokémon because it would ultimately be incomplete. It would ultimately be a failure on her part.

She is the absolute worst!

"I should have known this was going to happen. Maybe I should have told Gramps not to ask you to complete the pokédex when he first mentioned it to us." Blue continued on, oblivious to Green's reactions, more thinking aloud now then speaking to her. However, he should not have said his thoughts aloud. Green's rather pale face at the thought of letting Professor Oak down now turned back to its previous bright red. Although, this time, it was not due to her embarrassment. No, this red was from simple anger.

Overwhelming, infuriating anger.

"How dare you! You may think you know everything, Blue, and that you have a say in everything, but you don't! _You don't!_ You are not your grandfather or even an adult! And you _definitely_ don't know what is best for _me_! You can't even be a friend, let alone a best friend, to me! Yes, I am scared of bird pokémon! Yes, that will be a problem in regards to completing the pokédex! But, do you want to know what a true friend does? What _Red_ would have done if he was in your position right now? He would have simply asked if me and Gaia were alright and helped me up. He would have listened to my story and give me a hug or squeeze my hand in comfort for the complete and utter _terror_ I felt. He would have tried to make me feel _safe_. He would _not_ have made me feel bad about myself. UGH! WHY CAN'T RED BE HERE INSTEAD OF YOU!" Green yelled.

She officially snapped.

Green was tired of Blue always belittling her fear, always telling her how she should act and feel, always sounding like he knew better than her and Red. Green also felt threatened by Blue and his belief that he had the power over her participation in completing the pokédex for Professor Oak. Without Professor Oak's request, Green wouldn't have fulfilled her own simple dream. She wouldn't be where is right now…with Gaia the Bulbasaur.

Yes, it has only been a short while since she has met her starter and set off onto Route 1 to start their mission of completing the pokédex. But, Green already loves the bulb pokémon in her arms to bits and pieces. She loved the adorable leaf mark on the Bulbasaur's forehead. She loved how Gaia would snuggle into her embrace whenever Green picked her up or even rub her head underneath Green's chin in open affection. She loved how almost in sync they were becoming with each battle and capture of new wild pokémon they come across. Green loved how, even when they lost in a battle against a trainer, they were able to comfort and build each other back up with renewed determination to get better together. Just the thought that this blooming partnership between her and Gaia could have possibly not been born due to Blue made Green want to rage and cry.

Blue just gaped at Green, his jaw dropped because this was a first for him. Yes, sometimes Green would lose her temper at him and Red about their rivalry. But, only when they tried to drag her into the middle of it and even then she never exploded on them like just now. She merely spoke to them in a firm but threatening tone that had them backing off. She never raised her voice until now.

But, Green didn't care about that right now. All she cared about was getting herself and Gaia the Bulbasaur away from Blue as fast as possible. To follow through on that thought, the teen girl turned on her heel and ran. She was long gone by the time Blue would manage to snap himself out of his stupor.

Green just ran and ran and ran….and ran further than that. She ran until she couldn't any longer, skidding to a halt and then dropping to the ground. She unconsciously released Gaia from her grasp for the first time since Green ran from the Pidgey what seemed like ages ago. Gaia the Bulbasaur watched on in concern as Green curled into herself to cry and heave as she struggled to inhale much needed oxygen.

"Bulba-saur? Saur?" Gaia called to her trainer and nudged Green's side to get her attention. Unfortunately, Green didn't seem to notice as she continued to cry.

"Saur! Bulbasaur!" Gaia persisted until Green looked at the grass starter.

"Do you think I'm in over my head, Gaia? Do you…Do you regret being my pokémon?" Green's whisper broke at the end of her second question. Yes, Green was still massively upset at Blue. But, right now, her concerns were back on whether or not she is a good trainer or not.

At the first sight of a bird pokémon, what was Green's reaction? She bolted. She didn't even try to stay calm or to face her fear. On top of that, she was afraid of something that was smaller than her own pokémon! That just proved to Gaia that her new trainer was a coward. Then, when Blue mentioned about the pokédex, Green was proven as a failure because she was going to attempt to complete it without any bird pokémon which would have been useless to Professor Oak. Next, Green blew up on Blue at the smallest, unintentional provocation which probably made her look short-tempered. This whole situation had Green feeling and expressing so many extreme emotions that she must look deranged to her starter pokémon. Why would Gaia ever want to be her poképartner after this?

Green had only just begun her journey and she has already failed at every level…

Why did she ever think that she was ready for this?

Maybe Blue was right…

"BULBA!" Gaia shouted before launching herself into the young teen's arms and snuggling into her lap. Then, Gaia raised her head so as to rub her forehead against Green's chin.

"Bulba, Bulbasaur, Saur Bulbasaur!" Gaia continued to vocalize her feelings through the inflections of her tone as well as her actions, trying to reassure Green that, yes, she still very much wanted to be her pokémon.

Unbelievable…

It was truly unbelievable to Green that her pokémon still wanted to be her partner after everything that just happened. Gaia the Bulbasaur barely knew her and, yet, she was willing to stay by her side even at her worst.

Gaia the Bulbasaur is unbelievably the best pokémon ever.

And she was Green's.

"I promise to be better. Never again will I let you down, Gaia. _Never._ " Green whispered her promise as she gently cradled Gaia closer.

Green may have started off on the wrong foot, not fully prepared for the task assigned to her. But, that was going to change. _She_ was going to change. Gaia the Bulbasaur may have decided to stay with Green after her slip up, but she was going to make that she would never give her pokémon another chance to doubt her again.

 **~8~**

With a new sense of purpose after her melt-down, Green threw herself into her task of catching any new wild pokémon that crossed her path. Green was determined to prove that she was the trainer she promised herself to be to Gaia the Bulbasaur and the first step to do that was to successfully challenge and capture _all_ types of pokémon in order to complete the pokédex. This would include the dreaded bird pokémon. Should the young brunette come across a wild bird pokémon, she was going to stand tall and firm. She was going to face that beaky nightmare and show no fear as she battled it with her wonderful pokémon before capturing it in a pokéball for the pokédex to scan and record its information. Afterwards, Green won't have to deal with that species of bird pokémon ever again and she can move on to other more interesting and less disturbing pokémon.

That was her plan.

Easy peasy.

Yeah…

Not so much.

Green lasted all of one second before she bolted from another Pidgey. To be fair, that is one second longer than the last time she ran into a Pidgey. She doubted she would have lasted so long if it was a Spearow. She didn't want to imagine her reaction if she somehow ran into a Fearow. But, it still didn't bode well to her promise of being better. If she could only progress about a second each time she encountered a bird pokémon…how long would it take Green to be able to even muster up the nerve to challenge a bird pokémon, let alone battle one? Blue and Red would complete their pokédex _ages_ before Green does.

Green could not lose out to Blue and prove him correct in his low assessment of her ability to be a pokémon trainer. The teen girl vehemently refused.

Which would explain why Green had tears of frustration stinging her eyes as she leaned against a tree after her latest run from a Pidgey. Her fists were clenched in self-loathing and her breathing ragged. The only positive at the moment was that she had recalled her Rattata, Chomper, to his pokéball before she bolted. So, none of her pokémon had seen her failure at the moment.

Why was this so hard?!

Is there no way for Green not to fail her pokémon, Professor Oak, and herself?

"Welcome to Viridian City." A very familiar voice broke through her mental tirade. A voice that she was happy to hear. So happy that Green immediately pushed herself away from the tree and turned to peak around the trunk to see if it truly was the young man she hoped it to be.

There, standing in front of a sign on Route 1 that he just read aloud was none other than her best friend, Red.

Just the person that Green needed and wanted to see! Who else could help and comfort her other than Red? He would know exactly what to say! Or maybe he would be willing to take some time out of his own quest to spend with her until she felt like she could go alone? Red has never turned Green away when she needed him before and she highly doubted that had changed just because they were trainers now.

"You made it here quicker than I thought you would. You're pretty slow so I thought it would take you whole lot more time to figure out how to get here." Blue stated and walked over to Red. At the sound of this friend's voice and appearance, Green quickly ducked back behind the tree trunk to hide.

As much as she wanted to run over and jump on Red for a big, comforting hug, Green did not want to confront Blue. Especially not with how she was struggling right now with overcoming her fear. Plus, she had such conflicting feelings towards her best friend. Green was still extremely upset at Blue's arrogance and doubts about her as a trainer. Why couldn't he just this once comfort her instead of put her down? How come that was so difficult for him? Green was also trying to forget his little slip about how he could have prevented her partnership with Gaia the Bulbasaur. As infuriating as that thought was, it didn't happen so she shouldn't hold the 'what if' scenario against him.

On top of those feelings, Green did feel a kernel of guilt that seemed to be gradually growing for how she yelled at Blue. Green has never blown up at him like that before, let alone so venomously like she did. Green knew that, despite how callous Blue had stated his opinion to her, he only did so because it was his way of helping her and he was telling her the truth. Blue was trying to help Green identify her flaw so that she could fix it before it hindered her later on. He was not being intentionally mean or trying to put her down. That was just how it came out. It was his weird but rather bad way of helping Green improve herself. She always knew that when he did so in the past no matter how infuriating or upsetting she felt about it, but his criticism just came at the wrong time in this instance. So, she felt guilty for her reaction at something that wasn't so out of the ordinary as him insensitively scrutinizing her and telling it to her face.

With such volatile emotions coursing through her, Green wasn't sure which one would win out when confronted with Blue and she didn't want to make it worse. She did hate being at odds with Blue whenever the occasion rose and she knew that their fight would get worse if she didn't keep her emotions in check because Blue certainly wouldn't. Once Blue was insulted or angered, he lashed out to get even or to hurt the other person worse than he was. With how close Green and Blue are, he knew exactly what to say to make Green hurt. If she stooped to his level, their friendship might just crumble to dust because, unlike when they resided in Pallet Town, they were now travelling and there would be longer periods of time before they saw each other again. Whereas they constantly saw one another and were able to find the time to talk and make peace, now they could continue this fight longer and let it fester until it damaged their friendship beyond repair because too much time had passed.

Green, no matter how upset she was at Blue, did not want that to happen. So, she was going to remain hidden until Blue has finished his business with Red.

"What do you say? Has your pokémon gotten any stronger yet?" Blue asked and it was clear that he was challenging Red.

"Look, Blue, my goal in this is not to try to make my pokémon stronger. All I want to do is complete the pokédex." Red replied, however, he should have known better. There was a certain edge in Blue's voice as well as the rigid way he held himself in front of Red that should have alerted the teen that Blue was not going to back down. That Blue was just itching for a fight for whatever reason.

"Ha! Yeah, okay, I get it. But, to complete the pokédex you sometimes have to battle against strong pokémon, right? Well, at least you have a good excuse to escape from battle if you wimp out." Blue goaded. Green frowned though at the dark note in his tone. What exactly did that mean since she never heard that before from Blue.

"What'd you say?" Red asked in a low, almost warning tone. But, to Blue and Green, it just proved that Red was falling into Blue's trap.

"Tch, come on. We both know it, Red. The truth is that you're not confident you can beat me. In case, you're wondering, I won't lose to you. No way, no how." Blue said the magic words that would infuriate Red into battling him, just like Blue wanted.

"Alright! I'll accept your challenge!" Red exclaimed and the two teen boys jumped back from their perspective spots in order to create reasonable size area to battle.

Green simply sighed but she will admit she was pretty curious about who was going to win. She will also admit there was a pit growing in her stomach that seem to twist and knot in unease. Blue's reactions were just not sitting right with her. There seemed to be something darker, angrier behind his usual taunts and arrogance as he interacted with Red. Whatever it was, it made Green want to step out of her hiding place and stop the battle before it could begin.

But, she remained rooted to her spot.

She knew that no matter what she would say, it would not stop anything. It never has in the past when she first tried to stop this rivalry from growing and she learned quite quickly that, as much as she did not want to be a reason for the boys' rivalry, the boys' did not want her interference either. After her fight with Blue, Green might even make it worse if she tried to step in now. So, she was going to stay where she was and watch the battle unfold while praying that her unease is just her imagination acting up in response to her own inner turmoil at Blue's presence.

By the end of that match, Green regretted not taking any action and not trusting her instincts. Red and his Charmander were slaughtered by Blue and his Squirtle. The only move of Charmander's that landed on Squirtle was Growl and even then it barely made an impression on Squirtle. Blue had trained his Squirtle well by how it managed to dodge Charmander's physical attacks and by how quick it was in attacking back. With each missed attack at Squirtle and corresponding hit on Charmander, with each taunt that grew smugger by Blue, Red grew more and more irritated. Blue was so merciless and Red so overwhelmed that Red was forced to recall his Charmander to its pokéball in fear of permanent injury. Blue shortly recalled his Squirtle after Charmander was.

"How weak! I've never seen such a weak trainer before. Though, I'm way too strong and awesome too." Blue commented, way too happy and amused at how thoroughly beaten Red was. Red himself didn't even seem to hear Blue as he stared at Charmander's pokéball in his hand.

"Just attack and attack. Predictable." Blue continued with a sigh. At this statement, Red flinched in acknowledgment before clenching his eyes closed and started to tremble.

"I-just…" Red could barely get those two words out, clearly humiliated and distraught.

"Look, Red, just head back to Pallet Town already. There's no way you'll be able to complete the pokédex. You can't even protect yourself and your pokémon, how are you supposed to do so for other pokémon you will encounter? What about your friends who rely on you? It's a waste of time." Blue echoed nearly the same words to Red that he said to Green, making the hidden girl freeze.

She was just about to come storming out to give Blue a piece of her mind and to protect Red from further harm. Those words were like ice in her veins as they reminded her of their earlier interaction in the woods. How she yelled and upset Blue. If she came storming out now, Blue was just going to direct his ill-intent towards her next and she wasn't sure if she could take the same beat down that Red did. Especially since she had the feeling that Blue would be even more malicious against her than he was against Red.

Green was quite the selfish coward, wasn't she? This fact she was learning fully as she watched Blue walk away laughing, completely content with how he humiliated and belittled Red while Red dropped his arm to his side, still clenching the pokéball tightly in his hand.

But, perhaps, the most prevalent thought in Green's mind was how this was nothing like she imagined their journey to complete the pokédex would be. They were supposed to be able to catch wild pokémon with little difficulty, have fun interacting and meeting new pokémon and trainers. The trio of childhood friends were supposed to meet up with one another amicably, talk about the experiences they have had so far, joke around and hang out with one another before they had to move on and continue with their perspective journeys. None of that has happened, especially when the trio saw one another.

Green was frightened.

Red was ridiculed.

Blue was cruel.

It all just seemed so wrong…

 **~8~**

The sun was starting to set on the horizon and two best friends found themselves sitting next to a stream. Both Red and Green were completely silent as they stared off into the distance. It was a few minutes after Blue's departure that Green finally removed herself from her hiding place and walked over to the still distraught Red. Green enveloped him a tight hug but Red barely registered her presence let alone her embrace. Instead of feeling insulted or pestering Red for his lack of response, Green simply took Red by the hand and led him straight to the stream they were now seated at.

While Green was comforted by another's touch and soothing words, Red just needed to feel that he wasn't alone but not talk about it. Red needed time to sort through his own feelings before he could articulate them to someone else and seek comfort from them. Red didn't want to be alone but he also didn't want to speak straight away. As his best friend, Green implicitly knew this hence why she was willing to just sit by him in total silence. She was using this time to figure out how everything went so wrong.

"Why…" Red's question broke through Green's reverie and she turned to give him her full attention.

"Blue and I…we both should be at the same level. GAH!" Red exclaimed at the end in obvious frustration as he then began to hit his forehead with Charmander's pokéball. Green was startled by his action as she flinched in surprise and then quickly reached out to stop Red from hurting himself. She opened her mouth and whatever she was about to say was interrupted by the appearance of a complete stranger.

"No." The stranger replied simply but firmly and forced the two teens to turn around in surprise at his sudden appearance. The young man, who was definitely older than them by a few years at least, had spikey brown hair and slits for eyes. He was wearing an orange sweater over baggy olive green cargo pants. After taking in the sight of this stranger and then glancing at one another, both Red and Green knew that neither of them had ever seen this man before or knew why he was talking to them about a situation he shouldn't know about.

"Clearly the guy who used the Squirtle is more experienced." The stranger continued after he took another step closer to the two friends, not even deterred by their startled expressions at his presence.

"Uh…W-who are you?" Red asked.

"And how did you even know about his battle?" Green asked her own question.

"Tell me something, do you understand the typing characteristics of your pokémon?" The stranger side-stepped their questions as he placed a hand on his hip.

"Wha-?" Red responded in confusion as he and Green both stood up to face this stranger.

"Well, to begin with, it's so obvious that you and your pokémon are not in sync." The stranger replied in a matter of fact tone.

"Not in sync? … That's a lie!" Red was first contemplative over the stranger's opinion before he became defensive. Green remained silent for now to hear what this stranger has to say and if it was at all accurate or if this stranger was simply trying to harm Red further by giving him bad advice. Even though Green was a new trainer as well, she figured that common sense would help her decipher this stranger's opinion.

"His Squirtle responded quickly to its trainer's instructions and was able to dodge attacks by using its own judgement. Because the pokémon and its trainer are connected that Squirtle clearly recognizes and trusts in its trainer's power." The stranger explained his assessment and Green gave a slight nod of her head. He was correct from what she witnessed of the battle. Blue's Squirtle moved smoothly, without hesitation on its own and at Blue's orders during the battle whereas Red's Charmander seemed clumsy in comparison.

"Trainer's power?" Red stated his confusion. Green would admit that she herself did not understand completely what this stranger meant by a 'trainer's power'.

Was this 'power' some intrinsic ability that endowed the trainer with the knowledge of how to battle without fear of losing?

Did every trainer have this power from the beginning or was it something they acquired over time?

What if Green never learned how to tap into her own 'power'? What would that mean for her and her own pokémon when they battled?

"Pokémon won't connect with trainers who have none." The stranger stated simply which made both Red and Green gasp. Well, that answered one question for the young girl. She needed to make sure she gained some 'power' or however one goes about it. She did not want her pokémon to suffer because of her failings.

"The strength of a pokémon is proportional to its trainer's power." The stranger finished in order to drive his point home to the young teens.

"I see." Red murmured as he looked at Charmander's pokéball clutched firmly in his hand. At least one of the teens understood the stranger because Green did not.

He did not answer any of her internal questions or even Red's basic verbal one of what exactly is a 'trainer's power'!

"I don't." Green stated openly, her brow furrowed in confusion and annoyance at how she wasn't grasping this concept unlike her best friend.

It was especially frustrating because Green always prided herself on her learning abilities. Between the three childhood friends, Green was the smartest in an academic setting. She just loved to learn about new topics and, when she did start on a new topic that truly captured her interest, Green just had to know everything about it until she was practically an expert. It also helped that she was able to grasp onto theories quickly as well. She was the one that Red and Blue turned to when they needed help with studying. So, for her not to understand straight away while Red did irked Green quite a bit.

"A 'trainer's power' is their ability to understand their pokémon's limitations and effectively utilize this knowledge in battle." The stranger further explained. Green's mouth formed an "O" before she closed her mouth and nodded her head. That was definitely clearer. But, Green still had her other questions to ask about in regards to how she either awakens this 'power' inside of herself or how she finds it as well as improve it once she succeeds in gaining it. But, Green won't get the chance to ask them.

"Got it." Red stated before he then started to walk past the stranger, forcing Green's attention away from her internal questions and onto her best friend. Green didn't know what Red meant by his simple comment. It seemed she wasn't the only one confused.

"Hold on. Where are you going?" The stranger asked.

"Isn't it clear? I'm going to find everyone with pokémon and challenge them to a battle…Green, how do you feel about a friendly battle?" Red told the stranger before he paused in thought as if he forgot his best friend was right there before he turned on his heel to challenge her. Green furrowed her eyebrows once more because Red had lifted Charmander's pokéball in challenge.

"You don't mean with Charmander, do you?" Green questioned with a concerned tone. She wasn't quite sure how long it took for a pokémon to recover from a battle, but she had a feeling that with how hurt Charmander was by Squirtle, that the lizard pokémon had not recovered sufficiently enough to battle now.

"Are you saying that you are going to make that weak and hurt Charmander battle even more?" The stranger agreed with the young girl. At their unanimous responses, Red gasped and looked down at the pokéball in concern. He clearly had forgotten all about his humiliating defeat after having his determination renewed by this stranger's earlier battle advice.

"You should take it to the Pokémon Center first." The stranger broke through Red's reverie with his next sound piece of advice.

"Of course, I just…" Red trailed off.

"The Pokémon Center in Viridian City is the building with the red roof." The stranger told them before he gestured at the two teens to follow him.

Red and Green exchanged a glance with each other before they nodded and walked in step behind the stranger.

 **~8~**

The stranger who still had yet to reveal himself had taken the two childhood friends back to the welcome sign where Red and Blue had battled. The stranger then stopped and turned to them as he told them that this is where they parted ways.

"Ah, well, thank you." Red said to the stranger.

"Yes, thank you." Green echoed her friend and the stranger gave the two a small nod of his head in acknowledgement.

"If you really want to learn the basics of battle you both are gonna want to visit the gym leaders." The stranger replied with another piece of advice.

"Gym leaders?" Red and Green asked simultaneously.

"Gym leaders are very experienced in pokémon battles. You could learn quite a lot from them. Though…" The stranger explained as he started to walk away from the teens with a wave. He stopped when he paused at the end of his statement, increasing the curiosity of the two best friends.

"Though what?" It was Red who asked the question as the stranger looked over his shoulder at them standing side by side wearing identical expressions of curiosity.

"Gym leaders are only willing to battle with people who really want to learn. If you wanna visit the gyms, then first think about this. What battling pokémon is _really_ all about." The stranger imparted one last piece of advice before he walked away with another wave. He didn't stop and continued to trek through the dark forest, officially leaving.

"What battling is really about." Red and Green mumbled under their breaths to each other. It took only about a second after that for Green to realize that she still had some questions for the helpful stranger.

"Red, I will meet back up with you at the Pokémon Center. Okay?" Green stated to her best friend more than questioned because she was already moving towards the direction the stranger left in. All Red could really do was nod his head in agreement before the teenaged girl had disappeared into the tree line.

Luckily for Green, it didn't take long to catch back up to the stranger even though he did veer off from the route she thought he would have taken. For some odd reason, she just assumed that he was heading back towards the river where they all meet each other. She was obviously wrong, but thankfully it didn't matter in the end.

"WAIT!" Green shouted and caused some minor disturbances in the darkened and sleepy forest around her. But, the stranger did hear her and did as she asked by stopping and waiting for her to catch up to him.

"I thought I gave you and your friend all the information you needed to know." The stranger mused and Green was glad to notice that he didn't seem exasperated or annoyed by her. Although, she disagreed wholeheartedly to his statement.

"No, you didn't. Like you just threw vague concepts at us and expect us to work them out. Thankfully you were able to answer some of our questions about a 'trainer's power', although I still have questions about that. But, you didn't really on gym leaders. Like, where are they? Are they all located in some random building together, so it's a one-stop place for trainers to learn from them? Like a school? How many gym leaders are there? What exactly are they going to teach us? Just battling? Pokémon care?" Green started to rattle off and ramble. The stranger watched her in barely concealed shock and amusement as she quickly took a breath. But, before he could respond to her various questions, she began again.

"Are gym leaders the only ones who can teach trainers? Or is there another option? Can I try the gym leader challenge but then quit if I find something better to help me as a trainer? Or once I start I have to keep going until I complete it? Are there books I could read about this? What about books dedicated specifically to pokémon battling and care in general? Especially those for beginner trainers like me?" Green finally stopped and gave the stranger a curious but pointed look that told him she was waiting for him to answer. Which prompted the stranger to chuckle aloud.

"Aren't you tenacious? That's quite a bit you want to know." The stranger replied. Green crossed her arms self-consciously with a forced smile adorning her face.

"Well, I know that when I battle, it is really my pokémon who are doing it for me. So, I need to know what I am doing so I don't let them down." Green explained sheepishly and hoped that this stranger didn't catch onto the fact that she felt she had already let down her pokémon. If he did, then he didn't comment on it as his once amused smile turned softer at her explanation.

"I see. I guess I didn't have to ask you what it really means to battle pokémon. You already know." The stranger told the teenager and Green's once forced smile turned genuine and bright at his compliment. It was comforting to know that she had grasped this concept so quickly and without any help.

Maybe Green wasn't as incompetent as she thought she was at this?

There's hope for her yet!

"As for your questions, there are 8 gym leaders and they are located across Kanto. One for each major city. Once you defeat them and gain their badges as proof of your victory, you can proceed to the Indigo Plateau where you face off against the Elite 4 and the Pokémon Champion. Should you defeat the Pokémon Champion, you would be crowned as the new Pokémon Champion and take up his or her duties." The stranger explained to her and Green nodded her head to demonstrate her understanding. Although, her eyes did widen a bit at the mention of challenging the Elite 4 and the Pokémon Champion.

Why wouldn't she? The gym leader challenge itself did not sound like it involved battling against powerful trainers like the Elite 4 and the Pokémon Champion!

Green could barely handle battling bird pokémon, how is she supposed to go up against professional and experienced trainers with titles like 'Elite 4' and 'Pokémon Champion'?!

How powerful were these gym leaders if they are just the precursor to the Elite 4 and Pokémon Champion?

Green definitely won't last long against the gym leaders, let alone contemplate taking on the Elite 4 and Pokémon Champion!

"Do not fret, each gym leader battles accordingly to the number of badges the challenger has. That way beginning trainers such as yourself would not be overpowered right off the bat. Gym leaders are there to help trainers and their pokémon grow and discover their own strengths as well as weaknesses. To help trainers figure out their own battling style." The stranger stated as if he could read Green's thoughts which was entirely possible since Green was very expressive. Blue had always teased her about the fact that she had no poker face to speak of. Either way, Green gave a sigh of relief and loosened her crossed arms that were once hugging her tightly around the waist when she became anxious.

"Yes, you can quit the gym leader challenge should you decide that there is another path you wish to take. Not every trainer likes to battle. That is the beauty of being partnered with pokémon. You grow and support each other until you find the path you were meant to take. I think you would do well in the gym leader challenge. But, if you are not sure, I believe you will find your answers at the Viridian City Library. It is the biggest library in the whole of Kanto. Is there any other questions I have not answered, you had quite a lot that I am not sure if I got to them all?" The stranger finished at the end with small chuckle that Green joined shyly.

"Uh, there's actually one more left." Green replied and scratched her cheek with her finger which just had the stranger laughing more.

"Oh and what is it?" He asked ruefully, at least he was still amused by her and not irritated or angry with her constant questioning.

"Who are you?" The young teen inquired. She felt terrible that she had to keep referring to this helpful and nice man as 'stranger'. She actually hoped they could become friends.

"The name's Brock. I really do need to get going now and I hope to see you again." Brock revealed himself and turned away with one last wave.

"Good-bye and thank you so much!" Green replied with her own wave.

It was unneeded to say that she too wished to see him again in her travels.

 **~8~**

"Red!" A feminine voice called out throughout the Pokémon Center as the brunette girl walked into the red-roof building. That voice did not belong to Green but to the pretty nurse behind the counter. Green then noticed Red walk away from the computer phone and head over to the counter where his name was called.

"I want to thank you for waiting. You'll be glad to know that your pokémon are completely fighting fit. We hope to see you again." The nurse stated to the boy as she handed over the tray filled with his pokéballs.

"K, thanks a lot." Red replied gratefully before he moved a step to the right because he felt someone right behind him, waiting patiently for the nurse.

"Welcome to our Pokémon Center! We heal your pokémon back to perfect health. Shall we heal your pokémon?" The nurse asked the young girl after she stepped forward.

"Yes, please!" Green replied enthusiastically and laughed a little at the small jump Red gave as he recognized the sound of her voice.

"Okay, I'll need your pokémon." The nurse said and Green easily handed over her pokéballs as Red turned quickly on his heel to face her.

"Green! After your pokémon are all healed up, do you wanna battle?" Red asked cheerfully and expectantly. Green's once happy smile fell into an apologetic one.

"I'm sorry, Red. After I get my pokémon back I was going to head over to the Viridian City Library." Green explained gently. She wouldn't mind battling Red, but she wanted to study up first on battling and to make sure that she hadn't been doing it wrong.

"Of course you are." Red laughed, not at all surprised or upset by her response. Green is a bookworm through and through, although he would never call her that to her face unless in a fond and friendly tone.

"What? If I am going to take up the gym leader challenge, I need to know everything about pokémon and battling tactics. You should study up to! Do you want to join me?" Green exclaimed and gave Red her best baby-doll eyes. But, Red was immune to them as he chuckled and shook his head in the negative.

"Nah, I'll leave the studying to you. But, if I have any questions you will be the first one I go to. I think I'm going to head out though. I don't know how long you're going to take in the library. So, stay safe and good luck on the gym leader challenge." Red told her. Green sighed in disappointment but she knew it was a long shot in getting Red to join her at the library.

"You too and I hope we meet up again soon. We haven't had the chance to really hang out." Green replied as she hugged Red in farewell. Unlike the last time she hugged her best friend, he responded in kind. Green took great comfort in the arms of her best friend, used this moment to soak up all the support and reassurance she got from Red.

The teenaged girl finally felt re-centered after everything that has happened since she left on this journey.

This is the power of Red's hugs.

Green tightened her arms around Red before pulling away and gave him a bright smile to hide her stress and fatigue. Red didn't need to know about her fight with Blue and her doubts about herself as a trainer. He was already burdened with his own troubles and worries. She was only going to take a hug from him and nothing more.

She was going to figure out everything on her own.

And books were usually where she found the answers to her problems.

 **~8~**

It wouldn't be until the next day that Green finally made it to the Viridian City Library. By the time that her pokémon were returned after being healed, it was too late at night for Green to go anywhere. But, that didn't stop the teen from waking up bright and early and heading straight to the library.

She spent hours in the library after commandeering a table to herself. The books she pulled out were stacked all over the table and towered above her seated position. But Green didn't notice or care as she read book after book, absorbing the knowledge she was receiving.

The most important thing Green had learned was how woefully unprepared she was when she accepted becoming a pokémon trainer.

She knew practically nothing.

Like there are different types of pokémon?!

Okay, to be fair, it was obvious enough for her to note on her own. But, Green never analyzed past that fact and realize the implications. Such as that the typing of a pokémon determined its strengths and weakness against other typings. Or that typing can also be applied to moves a pokémon can learn.

Don't even get Green started on what she learned about pokémon evolution.

What matters is that these facts are fundamental knowledge for pokémon identification and care, let alone battling!

How could Green even proceed as trainer and attempt to complete the pokédex if she didn't know this?

Well, she was going to rectify that mistake of hers. She was going to spend as much time as she needed at the Viridian City Library until she knew everything.

Green was not going to fail herself as a pokémon trainer.

Green was not going to fail her pokémon.

And Green was not going to fail Professor Oak who gave her this opportunity in exchange of completing the pokédex.

Failure was not an option.

 **~8~**

"Professor, may I ask what the reason was that you choose Red for this task?" One of the man's assistants asked him as he sat comfortably at his desk back in Pallet Town. Professor Oak looked up from the file in his hands as he smiled at his female assistant.

"Although he's clumsy, ever since he was a young boy he's hated to lose. But, he is honest. He will learn from those around him and grow stronger. I believe he will make a good pokémon trainer. I only hope that Blue will grow along with Red. Unlike Red, he's too good which makes him a little arrogant." Professor Oak explained his reasoning and hopes as he leaned back in his seat.

"And Green? Don't you think that she's a little too…naïve?" The assistant hesitated on the last word. She knew how much Professor Oak loved the young girl like his own granddaughter. She didn't fault him for that because all of his assistants, like herself, loved the girl as well. Green was always sweet and polite to them as well as didn't mind conversing with the assistants whenever the professor was too busy. Because the assistants knew her almost as well as Professor Oak, they knew her weaknesses and fears as well. They were worried about her and how she will fare in the task of completing the pokédex.

The pokémon professor chuckled at the word 'naïve'.

"Ah, yes, Green does tend live in her own idealistic world, does she not?" Professor Oak continued to fondly chuckle as he thought about the young girl in question.

"However, she is a lot like Red: honest and hates to lose. Whenever her outlook is threatened, she will regroup and come back stronger. Have no fear, her optimism and sincerity will not deteriorate no matter how bleak it gets for her. But, that is not why I asked her to help complete the pokédex like I did with Red and Blue." Professor Oak reassured his assistant. He knew that they were all worried that Green might lose that special characteristic of hers which allowed her to see the best in the world. But, Professor Oak just knew that Green was stronger than that. She would always be the sweet girl who wanted to be friends with everyone and was able to look past the exterior of others until she found the good in them like she does with Blue.

"Then why did you send Green out with Red and Blue?" The assistant questioned.

"Even though I believe she would make a good trainer like Red and Blue if she decided to pursue that, her potential does not lie in being a trainer." The pokémon professor stated cryptically.

"Where?" The assistant asked, genuinely curious as to what Professor Oak was thinking.

What did he see when he looked at Green?

"I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello there!**

 **And here is the long awaited second chapter! To be fair I did warn you that it could be a long wait. But, in between shifts I have been working diligently on this story and have finally written it to where I like it enough to update. So, I hope you enjoy it.**

 **I also want to give a big thank you to everyone who has put this story and myself as an author under their favorites and alerts. Thank you as well to the guest who left me a very kind review. It put a major smile on my face and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the first one.**

 **And who else is super excited by all the Pokémon Sun and Moon info that has come out so far? The game play trailers look fantastic and I have already seen a couple of pokémon that I cannot wait to try on my team.**

 **Disclaimer is in Chapter 1.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

* * *

Chapter 2

Green is currently stuck in the Viridian Forest.

And, _**no**_ , she is not lost!

No, really!

Ok, she might be turned around a bit, but it was through no fault of her own! Green refused to leave until she managed to catch every single kind of pokémon that resides in the Viridian Forest that has not been recorded in her pokédex yet. Even though Green was very interested in taking up the gym leader challenge, she would not forget her mission for Professor Oak. Which meant the dreaded bird pokémon or, in this case, a Pidgey. While she could also catch a Pidgeotto here in the Viridian Forest, Green knew that Pidgeotto is an evolution of Pidgey. She figured that out with her knowledge on evolution which she read up on at the Viridian City Library.

And her two childhood friends complained and teased her about all the time she spends at libraries!

Well, the laugh's on them as soon as they realize the same as her and then realize they wasted time and effort catching the two bird pokémon when they only need one!

Serves them right!

…

If only Green wasn't wasting as much, if not more, of her own time in the attempts to catch a Pidgey…

UGH!

Why did she have to be so weak?!

Why did they have to be so intimidating?!

Green's only silver-lining to this fiasco is that she is getting to spend some quality time and training with the pokémon she has in her party. She had so much fun getting to know her pokémon; their personalities, their likes and dislikes, their strengths and weaknesses…just…everything she could. And when she observed her bug pokémon evolve into their cocoon forms and then their final forms, Green was in awe.

While Green's other pokémon did not evolve, they did learn new moves as they trained and battled other trainers hidden in the Viridian Forest. Some of these attacks were astonishing and had Green's mind racing with how they would work in a battle strategy. Case in point would be Tiny the Butterfree learning sleep powder. Maybe if they used sleep powder on the next wild Pidgey they came across, then just maybe Green could last long enough to capture it. Surely, a Pidgey's intimidation factor would be cut in half when it was sleeping defenselessly. If this plan worked then Green would be eternally grateful to her butterfly pokémon.

Green was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the bushes next to her start to rustle. She gripped Tiny's pokéball in her hand and squared her shoulders in order to put up a strong front as she turned to face the wild pokémon that just approached her.

Although…

It looked nothing like the one she expected it to be or any of the pokémon she has seen so far.

 **~8~**

"Red, is that really you?! You look sorta different, but I don't know why. Do I look any different to you? But, anyways, how have you been? Where have you been? Where are you now? How many pokémon have you caught? Find any super cool ones? What about cute ones? I know I have! Oh! Did you start the gym leader challenge?! How far along are you? Were you-" Green's ramblings were cut off by the sound of her best friend's laughing protests.

"Calm down, Green. No need to bombard me with questions." Red said in between chuckles through the computer phone. Green huffed in reply as well gave a small pout at her best friend's nonchalance.

"But, Red! I haven't seen you since Viridian City and that feels like forever ago! … I miss you. So much." The young girl shyly admitted at the end accompanied with a small blush filling her cheeks with color which turned her pout into a rather adorable and innocent expression.

Now, Green wasn't blushing because she had some secret crush on Red.

No!

Like, seriously?!

EW!

Green was acting this way because she was embarrassed by how much she missed Red while he seemed perfectly fine without her. Green missed her best friend. A lot. But, she missed a lot of things.

She missed being with her mom.

She missed talking to and hanging out with both Red and Blue.

She missed visiting Professor Oak and his lab assistants.

Green is just plain homesick.

Don't get her wrong, she loves that she is accomplishing her dreams of traveling as well as getting to meet and befriend new pokémon and people. Those experiences were everything Green expected and more! She wouldn't trade it for anything.

But…

That didn't discount the fact that she missed the people she loves the most in the world. Some of the homesickness is counteracted by Green calling her mother and Professor Oak whenever she gets the chance on the computer phone at a Pokémon Center. However, due to Red and Blue travelling like Green, it was hard to get in contact with them. Case in point, this is the first time she has seen and spoken to Red since their time on Route 2.

Green wasn't even going to think about the last time she saw Blue or the fact that if she could speak with him in this exact moment she would be running in the opposite direction.

She still has yet to deal with the fallout from when she yelled at him…

Yeah…

Green was going to avoid Blue for as long as possible no matter how much she might miss him.

But the fact remains that Red should be just as excited to see and talk to her as she is for him!

"I miss you too, Green." Red broke through Green's indignant thoughts.

"I was thinking we should meet up soon, that way I can answer all of your questions and I can get a signature Green-hug. So, why don't you tell me where you are at and we can figure out a good middle point for our meet-up." Red continued once Green returned eye-contact that was lost when Green looked away in her embarrassment. This had Green beaming.

"That is excellent! I'm at Cinnabar Island!" Green answered much to Red's surprise.

"Cinnabar Island?! Woah…" Red exclaimed as he pulled out his town map to see how far it was from his current location.

"Yeah, it's a kinda complicated story." Green chuckled sheepishly as well as scratched her cheek with her finger.

"I bet." Red laughed with her as he continued to look over his town map.

"How about we meet up at Lavender Town?" Red followed up once he deemed a suitable location which forced Green to look at her own town map.

"Hmm, sounds doable but it might take me a little bit longer to get there." Green mused aloud as she mapped out the different routes she can utilize to get there as soon as possible. She really did want to hang out with Red and catch up.

"What date do you think you will get there by?" Red asked. Once Green did some mental math and replied, Red promised he would be at the Lavender Town Pokémon Center by then before he quickly signed off. The conversation was shorter than Green had hoped it to be, but she was going to focus instead on when she will see Red next.

She had a boat ticket to purchase!

 **~8~**

"Well, well, well, look at what we have here. I'm surprised you didn't drop the pokéfood bag as soon as you saw the Pidgey on the label." A snide but familiar voice rang out to Green as she stood in the middle of the pokéfood aisle at the Fuchsia City PokéMart. Green immediately stiffened as she slowly turned her head towards her other childhood friend with wide eyes.

"What? Does just the image petrify you? You are pathetic." Blue continued after he got no response but Green's stunned and scared expression.

And so it begins.

Green was expecting it. She really was. She could probably even figure out exactly what Blue was going to say to hurt her the most. But, even with all that knowing, it still didn't stop Green from feeling the exact pain that Blue intended. That burning zing straight to her heart at hearing such cruel things from the mouth of one of the people she loves the most in the world.

It would be at these moments that Green would start to doubt why Blue should be considered on that list of loved ones. Anyone else would and, maybe, they would have stopped being Blue's friend, dropping him from their list immediately. But not Green. No. She just took it because while Blue could be incredibly cruel, he could also be incredibly sweet. And it was that sweetness that kept Green locked in. It was that sweetness that reminded Green of the other sweet moments she had with Blue, of the best friend she used to trust and love growing up as much as she did Red.

Although…

While Green was waiting for Blue's next verbal blow, a thought had struck her.

A thought she never had before.

A thought she might have never had before if she hadn't gone on this journey.

"Blue, stop. Just, stop." Green stated after she found her voice and held her hand up for the universal gesture for stop.

"Why? Can't stand to hear the truth? Well, you are going to listen whether you like it or not." Blue retorted with crossed arms but the young girl shook her head.

"No, I don't. Especially not when it is simply going to be you lashing out and trying to hurt me. I get it. My fear is laughable, I over react, and it is not helpful in my quest to complete the pokédex at all. I still struggle with it." Green cut him off before he could go any further. Unfortunately, Blue did not want to be silenced either.

"O-o-Oh! You know all of this, huh? So, what? Are you going to tell me next that you are working on it? That you are making great strides but all you need is my unwavering support to get you over that final hurdle? And then I'm just supposed to drop it, give you a hug, and tell you how proud I am of the epiphany you had and that I have always and will always support you no matter how ridiculous you act?" Blue sneered.

"I would never expect that from you, Blue. Red, yes. But, not you. Although, I would love for that to happen." Green admitted honestly which caused Blue to sneer even more at the mention of Red. Before Blue could respond to that, Green spoke up once more.

"I was going to tell you that the one thing I shouldn't struggle with is my friendships. I shouldn't have shouted at you. I know that. And I am really sorry for doing so. But, I shouldn't also have to be afraid of you either. So, if you are going to just stand there and belittle me, go out of your way to make me feel more terrible than I already do for what I said to you, then I can walk away. I do get that option. I don't have to stand here and take it." Green tried to explain as patiently as possible. Even though she was trying to be mature about this and trying to word everything carefully to not anger Blue any further, Green was still equally affected by this as Blue is. With every mean look he gave her and with the cruel tone he took on as he delivered his insults to her, Green felt it hit their mark. And, with each hit, Green felt her proverbial hackles rising, making her want to either fling her own insults at him or to run away. Neither option would work well in this situation.

"Or I can just follow you and continue telling you exactly what I think and feel about you." Blue countered, clearly not giving in an inch.

Why did he have to be so stubborn?!

Well, Green was not going to be the one to back down either. Not like she usually did.

"Then, that is your choice. But, I don't want to fight and I don't want to get hurt. I just want to run up to you and give you a hug. I want to ask you how have you been so far since I last saw you. Have you caught any new and interesting pokémon? Meet any interesting people? I just want to spend time with one of the people I love the most in the world and be happy. Since that is not going to happen, then I am going to leave and head to Lavender Town where I know I will meet up with someone who will give me just that." Green stated, leaving Blue once more in shock based on the wide-eyed look he was giving her.

The young girl knew exactly why her childhood friend was reacting in such a way and that is because of how honest and sincere she was being with him. That is the thought that crossed Green's mind when Blue first started talking to her. Ever since the subtle dynamic change in their friendship when they hit puberty years ago, Green had not been as honest with Blue as she was with Red. She always held back in fear of his harsh reactions and the possibility that he would stop being friends with her like he did with Red. It was one of the main reasons why she took Blue's insults and rage whenever she did get on his bad side. If she simply held out and let him get it out of his system, then he would go back to being her friend. In her mind, since she seemed to hurt him so badly, then he should get the chance to hurt her back and even the score so to speak.

Two wrongs don't make a right. That's what she should have remembered and embraced.

But, it was only after traveling, meeting new people and pokémon, and making new experiences, that Green learned this lesson. She also just now realized how she no longer fully trusted Blue which added to her previous timidity and the unhealthy twist to their friendship. She had gained the trust of her pokémon when she was honest and sincere with them. It all started when Gaia the Bulbasaur, now an Ivysaur, reassured Green that she wanted to be her starter pokémon after learning about her fear of bird pokémon. After that, Green felt so close to the bulb pokémon and that trust strengthened with each new obstacle they faced together. That trust was extended to Green's other pokémon as well.

And, now, Green hoped to experience that same trust, that same close bond, with Blue.

She never realized that she lost it so long ago, but she wanted it back.

However, that won't happen unless she is honest with Blue and Blue is willing to meet her halfway. She just did her part. She could only hope that Blue would do his.

When Blue didn't respond, Green gave him a hesitant but hopeful smile before she picked out the bag of pokéfood she needed and headed to the register.

Blue still did not call out to her or try to catch up to her as she left the PokéMart and then made her way out of Fuchsia City. With each step, Green's heart sank a little bit deeper and the depressing thought that she finally lost Blue as a friend rang a little louder in her head.

But, Green wouldn't be herself if she still didn't hold out a little sliver of hope buried in her heart that things might be different when she met up with Blue again…

Whenever that may be.

 **~8~**

Green had finally made it to Lavender Town after a long and grueling trek through Routes 15, 14, 13, and 12. After stepping across the town border, Green almost wished she was back on those routes. If Green was forced to choose one word to describe Lavender Town it is…

Bleak.

Not at all a place that Green would like to revisit once she was done hanging out with Red. She was definitely going to choose the next place for their meet up.

As Green walked into the Pokémon Center, she started to smile as she spotted Red. He was currently talking to what appeared to be a couple. It was simply a man and a woman, but since they were standing next to one another it meant they were romantically together in Green's teenaged mind. Plus, they just looked so cute together! As she walked towards them, Green could finally hear what they were talking about.

"That's the Pokémon Tower?" Red asked as the trio, now quartet when Green silently stepped up to join them, looked out the window to spot the looming tower surrounded by fog and overcast clouds.

"Yes. The Tower is used for services. The memorials that are held for pokémon." The woman answered.

"In fact, lots of people come from great distances to pay their respects." The man added.

"So, then the ghosts you were talking about earlier is a pokémon?" Red continued to question and Green's smile widened a bit at the turn of the subject. So, that's why Red was talking to them. Red had always been scared of ghosts and a little twitchy whenever one was mentioned.

"Mhm. Seems like it. But, it's really just a rumor." The man stated with a nod of his head in the beginning.

"So, then do you actually believe in ghosts?" The woman asked, interested and amused by Red's questions. She clearly understood why Red was asking them and, conveniently, left an irresistible opening for Green as she moved to stand behind the unsuspecting Red.

"No, no, I don't think they exist…Not sure, though." Red exclaimed with a tight smile and a dismissive wave. The woman simply laughed as she made eye contact with the mischievous teen girl behind the boy.

"Maybe not, I guess that hand that rests on your shoulder isn't real then either, huh?" The woman stated and Green knew this was her moment as she placed her hand on Red's shoulder quickly. As soon as she made contact, Red yelped and twirled around as he jumped at least a foot into the air. As his wild eyes came to rest on Green, the brunette girl was laughing uncontrollably, doubled over and hugging her sides.

"GREEN!" Red shouted in embarrassment and little bit of anger. It is quite hypocritical of her to take advantage of his major fear when she wouldn't take it to kindly if he did the same. Green and Blue shared similar humor in that regard, even though he didn't think Green realized that. But, Red would admit that, with Green, it was merely teasing and not at all mean-spirited.

"I want to say story, but I can't. That was too good. Right? C'mon? Am I right?" Green replied after she got some control over herself back, but still laughing. The last part was directed to the two other members of their group but, when Red and Green looked over, the couple were gone. Completely gone. There was literally no trace of them. Green's laughter abruptly stopped when she noticed this alongside Red.

"O-K, that was creepy." Green was the first one to break the silence and snap Red out of his stupefied trance.

"Red?" The nurse called out before Red could even think of a reply other than a nod of his head in agreement with Green's assessment of what just transpired.

"Ye-Yeah." Red said to the nurse once he reached the front desk as he quickly took his pokéballs back. Green followed behind him, back to being amused at Red's reactions.

"I want to thank you for waiting. You'll be glad to know that your pokémon are completely fighting fit. We hope to see you again soon." The nurse stated, unfazed by Red's poorly concealed anxiety.

"O-Ok, thank you." Red replied.

"And, uh, are you by any chance going to the Pokémon Tower?" The nurse asked.

"Yeah. Since we came all this way, I figured we would check it out." Red answered, sounding more like himself. His answer, however, had Green groaning to herself. Unlike her, Red didn't mind facing his fears head on. While she may not be particularly scared of ghosts, (she did believe in them because, come on, there are ghost type pokémon so why can't there be actual ghosts?) that didn't mean she wanted to take a look around a creepy tower that is reputed to be a graveyard basically.

Who would?

Her best friend apparently.

And, of course, he was going to drag Green along with him based on the use of "we".

And, of course, Green was going to go along because that is what best friends do for each other. They suck up their negative feelings and put aside to do stuff their best friend wanted to do. Especially, when they didn't want to do it alone which is exactly what Red was implying when he said "we".

"Then, before you go to the Pokémon Tower, I strongly recommend you visit the Pokémon House." The nurse suggested as she smiled at the two best friends.

"Wait, Pokémon House?" Red questioned, but before the nurse could answer, Green stepped in front of Red to stand before the nurse.

"Before we do that, could you please heal my pokémon? Then we can get a head start on learning about this Pokémon House." Green stated as she brought out her six pokéballs and placed them on the empty tray that Red's pokéballs once rested on.

"Of course, please wait a moment." The nurse replied understandably and immediately went to check out Green's pokémon.

 **~8~**

"She said to go here before going to the Pokémon Tower. I wonder why we need to do that." Red asked as he looked at the house they were standing across the street from.

"Maybe if you were a little bit more patient she would have answered that question after she returned my pokémon to me." Green replied with an exasperated sigh.

Because they had to wait for Green's pokémon to be healed, Red became impatient. So impatient that, as soon as Green's pokémon were finished up, he grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the Pokémon Center in his haste to get to this Pokémon House. So, the nurse never got the chance to explain to them what this Pokémon House was and why she recommended them to go their first before they visited the Pokémon Tower.

But, hey, at least Green finally got her chance to sit down and talk to Red about their perspective journeys while they waited for her pokémon to be healed.

At Green's reply on their current situation, Red simply stuck his tongue out at her before walking over to the house and through the entrance. Green barked out a short laugh as she followed, an amused smile stuck on her face as she looked around the main foyer in interest.

"Anyone here?" Red called out when it was obvious that no one was going to come out to greet them or for them to stop and talk to.

"Yes?" A feminine voice responded from the other side of the door. The young girl with cute pigtails was revealed as the door swung open. Before she quickly walked over to the duo, she shut the door behind her.

"Hello there, my friend and I were directed to the Pokémon House and we were wondering exactly what this place is." Green spoke up first.

"Oh, so you mean that no one told you? This place is where abandoned or orphaned pokémon are taken care of." The girl answered and Green's humorous statement about Red's impatience died on her lips at the second half of the girl's statement. Green's smile also faded away as her expression grew more somber.

"Abandoned pokémon?" Red questioned in disbelief, something Green completely empathized. She couldn't even imagine why anyone wanted to abandon their pokémon, let alone go through with it. The thought of her possibly abandoning her own pokémon never even crossed her mind.

Pokémon were just...

Everything about them was just…

Indescribable in the best possible way.

Green always thought so about pokémon, even the dreaded bird pokémon, and it had been reinforced ever since she started her quest to complete the pokédex.

"I'll show you. This way please." The girl stated as she took both Red and Green to the back of the house. The backroom contained small cubicles, some that contained pokémon and some that were empty or being cleaned out for an occupant. But the girl walked past the cubicles, Red and Green trailing behind her as they took in everything around them.

"I had no idea there were so many abandoned pokémon." Green choked out after a few moments of silence and taking in the place. Her eyes were stinging with unshed tears for all of these pokémon and the pain they must have felt at being abandoned by their beloved trainers. By the people they put their trust and faith into.

Absolutely heartbreaking.

"You should talk to the founder of the Pokémon House. His name is Mr. Fuji. He says that lots of people around the world think of pokémon as nothing more than tools or even some kind of accessories." The girl explained as they stopped. At first she sounded happy as she talked about this Mr. Fuji. And why wouldn't she? A man who would create such a place as the Pokémon House seemed like a wonderful person to know. Understandably, the girl sounded sad as she repeated Mr. Fuji's words.

"Did you know that this house actually used to be Mr. Fuji's own home? He remodeled it like this so that it would have facilities just for the pokémon." The girl continued and perked up once more before falling silent to let the two friends look around some more.

"This Mr. Fuji sure sounds like a really kind person." Red stated and brought a smile back to the girl's face.

"Mhm. I would love to meet this Mr. Fuji. He sounds absolutely amazing." Green added her own thoughts as she nodded her head in agreement with Red.

"You're both right, he is. That's the reason why a lot of people in town started helping out Mr. Fuji as volunteers here at the house. As a matter of fact, I'm one of them. My name is Reina." The girl finally introduced herself with a bright smile.

"My name is Red. Hey there." Red replied.

"And I'm Green. Nice to meet you." The other teenager stated. Reina nodded her head in a small sign of greeting before she gestured to them that they were going to continue with the tour of the Pokémon House. As they looked around, they wound up back again in the backroom.

"All the pokémon seem very happy." Red exclaimed as he looked at Reina and then walked to the nearest cubicle. Green sighed in relief under her breath as she took in the same thing as Red did. These pokémon needed a safe and happy environment after being abandoned. They deserved it. However, Red's gasp of shock forced Green's wandering eye back to him and to the cubicle he was looking into. She gave her own surprised gasp when her eyes landed on the same sight as his did.

Sitting there, in a darkened corner, facing forward with haunted eyes was a growling baby Cubone.

"What's with this one?" Red asked, neither teen could tear their eyes away from the disturbing sight in front of them. Reina stepped between the two friends at Cubone's cubicle.

"It's a baby Cubone. It's only friendly to Mr. Fuji. But, it's very nervous around anyone else." Reina explained.

"Why's that?" Green couldn't help but ask. She had this pit in her stomach that told her it wasn't going to be a good reason, but she had to know. Her curiosity demanded it.

"Because of Team Rocket." Reina stated, the name ringing bells for only one teen.

"Wait, Team Rocket?" Red asked for clarification while Green remained confused as to what the big deal was. She never heard of this Team Rocket.

"One day, Cubone was being chased by Team Rocket close to town. Because of Team Rocket, Cubone lost its mother, Marowak. Ever since that day, Cubone hasn't opened up to anyone expect Mr. Fuji." Reina explained, a small frown on her face as Cubone continued to growl in agitation at their stares.

"I can't believe Team Rocket. What a horrible thing to do." Red nearly snarled, hand clutched on the door angrily.

Green was simply speechless. Even if she wanted to say something, she would have had to remove the hand covering her mouth. Green's cheeks took on a splotchy red color and she didn't even care as a few tears leaked out from her eyes.

How could anyone be so cruel as to permanently take away a baby's mother?!

How could they even take away something as precious as a pokémon's life?

Team Rocket must be the most terrible people on the earth!

There wasn't even a word that Green could think of that could properly describe the likes of Team Rocket after what she just heard.

Green wasn't sure when it happened, but the hand across her mouth slipped away and fell to her side. Red had grabbed her free hand with his and pulled her a step in closer to himself to comfort her as they moved back to the front of the Pokémon House with Reina in the lead. Green was only half-way back to the present as they walked into the main foyer that seemed to be filled with volunteers now instead of the ghost town that greeted the teens when they first entered.

"I want to thank you for showing us around here. It all makes sense now. I get why the nurse at the Pokémon Center told me to come here before going to the Pokémon Tower." Red said, finally breaking the silence that descended upon the small trio. Green gave Reina a watery smile and nod of her head to show that she too was grateful even though she still couldn't speak around her clogged throat.

"Mr. Fuji is not just kind, you know. He knows everything there is about pokémon and teaches us all kinds of things." Reina stated with a kind smile. She clearly didn't want either of the two friends to leave so soon. She succeeded in getting one's attention as Green perked up a bit at the thought of meeting someone with all that knowledge.

Just imagine all the questions he could answer!

All the fascinating stories he could share!

Plus, spending more time with these abandon pokémon and putting smiles on their faces?

Where can Green sign up to volunteer here?!

"Right now, I'm working on helping to complete the pokédex. So, is Green. We would really love the chance to meet him if we could and if he could spare the time. Uh, which one of these guys is Mr. Fuji?" Red explained, apparently also very interested in learning from Mr. Fuji as Green was. Both childhood friends let their eyes roam over the foyer in their search, so they missed the smile fade and drop completely from Reina's face.

"Well…that's just it." Reina vaguely replied with a depressed aura surrounding her as Red and Green returned their gazes to her.

"Huh, what's wrong?" Red asked on their behalf, wanting to know what has made this friendly and nice girl become so sad. However, before she could respond, some man burst through the entrance door to the Pokémon House.

"Everyone! I found out where Mr. Fuji is." The man exclaimed. His words had everyone getting up and moving to surround him, eager but with an air of concern over what he may say next.

"Where?! Where is he?! Tell us!" A woman with a purple bob questioned.

"He's in the Pokémon Tower." The man stated.

"Pokémon Tower?!" All the volunteers exclaimed.

"That's right. Someone saw Mr. Fuji heading that way yesterday. Then he saw him go into the Pokémon Tower." The man explained.

"Why would he go there?" Another male volunteer questioned aloud.

"Team Rocket. That's the only reason. He must've gone there to convince Team Rocket to leave the Pokémon Tower. But, then he was captured." The woman with a purple bob reasoned.

"I'm afraid those kinds of people won't listen to anyone else." The male volunteer stated, clearly disheartened by the whole situation.

"Excuse me, the Pokémon Tower…What happened there?" Red questioned, once again speaking for the two Pallet Town teens who had no idea what was going on and why everyone was acting the way they were.

"Who are you?" The male volunteer asked, although he did flick his over Green to include her in the question as well.

"My name's Green and this is my best friend, Red. We're on a journey and we were hoping to possibly talk with Mr. Fuji." Green finally spoke up for the first time since she learned about Cubone's past. She was still pretty quiet and subdued, but she was grateful that her voice wasn't croaky or shaky.

"One day, Team Rocket showed up and made the top floor of the Pokémon Tower their base." The male volunteer began to explain.

"It was completely out of the blue with no warning. They came by truck before we knew it. Worse of all, they chased away the people who came to visit the Pokémon Tower. Since that day not a single person has been able to go inside the Pokémon Tower." Reina finished.

"I don't get it! Why are they so cruel?!" Green cried out in dismay and frustration. Red simply nodded in agreement with Green's outrage and clenched his fist.

"On top of that, a ghost appears. It's the truth, believe me. I saw it clearly with my own eyes. The other night, I snuck into the Tower when Team Rocket wasn't looking. And that's when… It was unbelievably scary!" Another female volunteer spoke up, she cut off from further description of the ghost as if she was too frightened to even revisit the memory. Green felt Red stiffen next to her with this new fact.

"I see…" Red said hesitantly, sweat starting to form. Green simply gave her best friend a soothing smile and patted the hand intertwined with her own in order to comfort him.

"If people can't come to visit the Pokémon Tower, this town is finished." The male volunteer stated solemnly.

"Hey! Let's all go together and rescue Mr. Fuji!" Reina exclaimed as she determinedly looked at all the volunteers for their immediate support.

"Look, there's no way we can battle against Team Rocket." The male volunteer replied in alarm with his hands raised in the air as if to ask Reina to slow down.

"Some people challenged them to battles but they're really strong for a bunch of petty thugs." The female volunteer with the purple bob added.

"And there's a ghost there! I can't go in that place again!" The blonde-haired female volunteer cried out as she hugged herself for comfort.

"Then what are we supposed to do?! Mr. Fuji went to Team Rocket's base to protect all of us. Are you saying we should just abandon him?!" Reina shouted, confused and outraged by their reactions.

"No, we're not abandoning him." The purple-haired female volunteer replied quickly.

"I'm sure Team Rocket will eventually let Mr. Fuji go. We'll just have to wait and see. That's all we can do." The man who told them new in the first place tried to explain. Clearly wanting to justify themselves in the eyes of Reina.

"I can't believe you would act like this?!" Reina yelled at them, not placated at all. All the adults looked guilty but, from their expressions, they weren't going to change their minds.

It was equally as shocking and dismaying to Green as it was to Reina to see adults acting this way. Adults were supposed to be the responsible ones. The ones who will always stand up and do the right thing because that is what they preach to their children. And, yet, here a group of them stand, too frozen by their fear to help save a friend. At least they were strangers to Green. She could only imagine how much more distressing this was to Reina who knew all of these adults personally and worked with them daily at the Pokémon House.

"I'll go!" Red exclaimed and broke the tension filled silence that had fallen briefly. He also released Green's hand to step forward. He received surprised gasps from everyone as their eyes landed on him. Even Green jumped a little, although she shouldn't have. Red simply just smirked in determination as he met their stunned gazes.

"You? But that's not possible. You're just a child. Even the adults here didn't have the strength to beat Team Rocket." The purple-haired female volunteer tried to dissuade Red.

"That's right! It's a waste of time! Even if you go there, nothing's gonna change." The male volunteer added.

"Well, I'm pretty confident about my skills in pokémon battles!" Red stated and showed off the 3 badges he had earned so far and pinned proudly on the inside of his jacket collar.

"Ah…He's got 3 badges?" The purple-haired female murmured softly while everyone but Green gasped in surprise once more.

"Ok, now we see why you're so confident. But, are you really sure that that's going to be enough?" The man questioned, still a bit skeptical.

"Yes, it is." Green said resolutely as she walked to stand beside Red and grabbed his hand to show her support.

"And, if by some miracle it wasn't, he has me. I, too, have 3 badges which is like sending in someone with 6 badges, dontchya think?" Green added with her own confident smirk as she raised her free hand to show off the charm bracelet she kept her own badges pinned on. This earned her another round of surprised gasps and murmurs as Red smiled proudly at Green and squeezed her hand.

Green was equally proud of Red. Both for him bravely going to confront both a ghost and Team Rocket to save a complete stranger, but also for his accomplishment of getting 3 badges. Apparently, earning 3 badges was quite a feat since most who attempt the gym leader challenge only won 1 or 2 before they hit a wall and call it quits.

Green couldn't really understand why.

Once you learn the basics of battling as well as typing, it was a breeze. The only real challenging part was how much more powerful the gym leader gets with each badge since they use higher and higher levelled pokémon with each badge you acquire. But, if you train your pokémon right and use your head, it was manageable. That and taking advantage of catching a variety of pokémon as well as reading the gym sign before heading in since it tells the typing of the gym you are about to face.

Green had an easy time against Brock after Gaia had learned leech seed and vine whip. After her battle, Brock mentioned Diglett's Cave that she had missed on Route 2, so Green naturally went there to catch one for her pokédex. What she didn't realize is that, after catching the spunky mole pokémon whom she named Terro, the cave would lead her straight to Vermillion City. While Gaia, who had evolved into an Ivysaur during their time in Diglett's Cave, worked pretty well against Lt. Surge's electric pokémon, the real MVP was Terro the Diglett with his move, Magnitude. Green had an excellent time in Vermillion City after her gym battle. She finally learned how to fish and used this new skill to catch a variety of water type pokémon. She also ended up joining the Pokémon Fan Club! It was amazing meeting and talking to people who loved pokémon just about as much as she did. There she also won a raffle for a free ticket to Cinnabar Island. Upon learning that Blaine the gym leader was a fire-type specialist, Green automatically knew she had to use the water-type pokémon she just caught as well as Terro and his ground type attacks. It just seemed so straight forward to Green, but it just goes to show that not everyone thought the same way as she did.

However, there was no doubt in Green's mind that Red was going to do just as well as she was at the gym leader challenge with his own type of strategies and it was gratifying to know that she was right.

Which is why she had no doubt whatsoever that together they would be able to at least save Mr. Fuji from Team Rocket, if not kick Team Rocket out of the Pokémon Tower completely.

"We can't let Team Rocket get away with this. And to Cubone too. We're gonna succeed in this, you'll see!" Red stated in finality and determination with Green nodding her head in agreement, both of their eyes showing their resolution more clearly than their words or badges ever could.

However, nobody saw Blue eavesdropping from a half-opened door and then close it quietly behind him to continue to not alert them to his presence.

"Now, I see. That's what's going on. So, if I go to the Pokémon Tower and get rid of Team Rocket before Red does, _I'll_ be the hero in Green's eyes." Blue said to himself as he walked out of the Pokémon House with chuckle at the end of his verbal musings.

 **~8~**

Green didn't realize how the time flew by, but she and Red didn't make it to the Pokémon Tower until it was night time. Which didn't help the spooky factor at all. Literally, as the two best friends looked up at the Tower, Green couldn't help but feel as if they were about to step into one of those terrible horror movies Blue likes so much.

She almost wished Blue was here. He would have loved this: entering a spooky tower, beat up some bad guys, and be the hero. He would have been super critical to the point of being insulting every time someone brought up the ghost. But, he still would have loved this.

Although, just thinking of Blue sent a small pang through Green's heart as she remembered exactly why he wasn't here.

"I said I would go, but, now that I'm here, it's more scary than I thought." Red stated as he too looked up at the Pokémon Tower and brought Green out of her thoughts about Blue.

"Hey, Red, believe me when I say that you can do this!" Green exclaimed as she turned slightly and grabbed his one hand with both of hers.

"You know how terrified I am of bird pokémon and how I react whenever I am around them. But, you. Well, you are almost as bad with ghosts and, yet, here you are. This was your idea to confront Team Rocket and the ghost without any hesitation! And I know that you can step right into there and keep your promise!" Green stated to reassure Red.

"Yeah and I can especially do it with you by my side!" Red replied and Green smiled brightly at him as she nodded her head in agreement.

She didn't verbally reply because, really? That was just obvious.

So, she didn't comment when Red turned away, but kept ahold of her hand, and straightened himself out before proceeding to walk towards the entrance of the Pokémon Tower.

 **~8~**

If there is anything to be said about Red and Green, they came prepared on their quest to complete the pokédex. That's right. They each had packed a flashlight just in case they had to walk into creepy towers that housed the remains of deceased pokémon but apparently had no use for proper lighting for those who break in at the dead of night.

C'mon, they could at least have windows to let in the moonlight!

"There's a certain chill in here." Red commented and brought Green out of her internal criticisms about the design of the Pokémon Tower.

"Mhm. But, seriously though, they could really redecorate this place to create a nicer atmosphere for those who wished to come and pay their respects to their deceased pokémon."  
Green openly criticized and managed to get Red to crack a smile. However, before he could comment, he saw a shadowy figure coming towards him which caused him to gasp aloud. At hearing his gasp, Green turned to look in the same direction as him in time to see the figure step directly into the beam of light to reveal a woman with dark hair in her face and pale clothing.

"You two really don't have to worry. I'm not a ghost." The scary woman stated, amused by the two teens.

"Please don't scare me like that." Red replied weakly, hand over his chest as he released his breath. Green rubbed his back in comfort as she too released her breath.

"I came here because I wanted to see my Nidoran. You care about your pokémon too, right? Did you come to pay your respects?" The scary woman asked after explaining herself.

"Aren't you afraid?" Red questioned back instead of answering her questions because as, a resident of Lavender Town, she obviously knew about Team Rocket's takeover and every other adult they had met so far seemed scared of Team Rocket. But, the scary woman just shrugged.

"Of course not. It seems like the ghost only appears farther up. It must hold a grudge against Team Rocket." The scary woman replied.

"Oh…you two were referring to the _ghost_." Green stated aloud. The scary woman gave her a confused look while Red didn't seem to hear Green's response.

"You said that it's farther up?" Red almost squeaked out, just barely able to keep the tremor out of his voice.

 **~8~**

Up on the 5th level, Blue was walking around with his own flashlight.

"I can't believe they think there's a ghost in here. I mean, just the fact that Team Rocket took over this place, anyone with brains at all would realize they make up the story just to scare people away. Even Green should have figured this out. Eh, she's too busy thinking about _Red_ and his silly fear of ghosts. Really? We are way too old to believe in ghosts. But, that's alright, I can be the mature one and show everyone just how stupid Red is." Blue commented aloud his exact thoughts on the situation at hand as he moved towards the staircase which would lead to the next floor up in this tower.

It was a habit of his that he had yet to realize he had.

"The genius, Blue, will finally reveal Team Rocket's sneaky tricks and then kick them out of here for good. Soon, my name will hold a special place in history of Lavender Town and Green will remember just how awesome I am to be around." Blue stated before he starts to climb the staircase.

 **~8~**

"Is Team Rocket even up here anyways?" Blue asked aloud on the next level, turning his head side to side and seeing no signs of life.

"Everybody talks about ghosts in this place but there's nothing here." Blue continued to talk to himself. However, he stopped with a gasp when he spotted something up ahead.

"What is that?" Blue asked.

The dark mass shifted a bit before it suddenly jumped towards Blue screaming, "GET OUT OF THIS PLACE!"

Blue was absolutely terrified and ran away screaming, dropping his flashlight along the way. His screams echoed throughout the tower.

Red and Green were just about to walk up a staircase when they first heard screaming which made Green stop on the first step and Red stop right behind her. Usually, it would be the other way around. But…there was a potential ghost up there and Green wasn't dragging her feet like Red was. When Green raised her flashlight, she saw Blue barreling down the staircase, screaming at the top of his lungs as he ran straight into Green. Green nearly toppled backwards with Blue, if it wasn't for Red who held her up from behind.

"Uh, Blue?! What are you doing here?" Red asked, really confused and he wasn't the only one. Green was practically stunned speechless.

What was he doing here?

Did he know that she and Red were here in Lavender Town as well?

If so, why didn't he try to meet up with them?

"I – I saw a g-g-ghost!" Blue exclaimed and further surprised Green.

Shouldn't the world be ending when Blue admitted that ghosts were real?

Before either Red or Green could respond, a bluish black blob flew down the stairs, yelling at them, "GET OUT! IT'S NOT SAFE HERE!"

All three teens gasped and stumbled away from it. Blue went further by keeping a tight hold on Green and moved the two of them behind Red as if to create a barrier between them and the ghost.

"What – Does that mean ghosts really do exist?" Red cried out in disbelief. While he was always scared at the idea of ghosts, Red was comforted by the fact that they weren't real.

"Come on, let's run away!" Blue exclaimed, his grip on Green tightened in preparation of dragging her with him. He knew that Green would fight him if Red didn't follow and he wasn't going to leave Green behind with a ghost.

Who knew what that thing could do to her?

"No, you run if you want to." Red stated causing both Blue and Green to turn their heads to look at their childhood friend in surprise. Blue was the only one to gasp.

"I can't." Red continued as he struggled slightly to grab a pokéball from the pocket in his backpack. Still trying to get over the shock of seeing the ghost.

"I can't run away." Red said as he ran forward to face the ghost head on. Both Blue and Green were stunned to see Red's reactions to the ghost. Both expected Red to act like Green whenever she sees a bird pokémon: fear, screaming, and running away.

Actually, just like how apparently both Green _and_ Blue react when scared.

It seems like Red was a good deal braver than Green and Blue ever were.

"Go! Charmeleon! Ha!" Red called out as he threw the pokéball to bring out his starter.

As Red faced down the dark mass, Blue removed his hold from Green in order to grab her hand with his own. He then tried to sneak past Red and the ghost, moving towards the staircase to the upper levels. However, he was stopped by Green who pulled on their intertwined hands.

"What are you doing?" Green asked him. She was not going to miss this outstanding feat of Red facing down a ghost. This was inspiring! And a little irritating because it just reminded Green of how weak she herself is. Either way, she wasn't going to leave Red.

"While Red is busy dealing with the ghost, we can deal with Team Rocket. You know, divide and conquer." Blue explained when really he thought Team Rocket was less scary than a ghost. How in the world do you fight a ghost? Only an idiot like Red would choose that option.

Green just stared at Blue for a moment.

Why didn't she think of that?

She knew Blue would be great at this.

"Oh. Shouldn't we tell Red?" Green replied.

"Nah, we shouldn't distract him. He will need all of his concentration to defeat that ghost." Blue answered quickly.

Who cares about Red and his ghost dilemma?

The only way Blue can save face for his earlier freak out and to still be a hero is to take down Team Rocket. Plus, he wouldn't have to stay in the presence of an actual ghost anymore (which still sort of scared him even though its attention is on Red) and have a chance to show off in front of Green.

"Yeah, you're right." Green nodded in agreement. It was probably taking everything in Red to even be in the same room as a ghost, let alone battle it. She wouldn't want someone to distract her whenever she had to face a bird pokémon.

Blue gave her his signature smirk before pulling her along by the hand towards the upper staircase. However, they only made it half way up when a bright beam of light blinded the two teens, forcing them to raise their free arms to cover their faces.

"Hey, you two love birds! Whatta you doin' here?" A man called out to them. When the light was removed from their eyes, the teens could finally make out what they assumed to be a Team Rocket Grunt (based on the red R on the front of his shirt) standing on the steps above them.

"Ha! A human opponent? I can handle this one, Green. Wartortle!" Blue stated as he released her hand and held it up to block Green from interfering and used the other to throw his starter's pokéball.

Green just sighed but couldn't really do anything since it wouldn't be fair to double team a single opponent.

It was the Grunt's Golbat versus Blue's Wartortle and, well, Blue was easily the better trainer than the Grunt. Green wouldn't have been surprised if the Golbat was going to faint when Wartortle's next attack landed. However, because both Blue and Green were too absorbed in the battle, they didn't notice the Grunt reach behind his back and covertly pull out a pokéball.

"Golbat use supersonic to distract the Wartortle and Raticate use bite on that punk!" The Grunt ordered as he called out his second pokémon.

"NO!" Green shouted.

Everything happened so fast.

It is super clichéd but, it really was all a blur.

One moment Green was right behind Blue, the next she was rolling and bumping down the stairs until she landed at the base of the stairwell. She hurt at certain points throughout her body but it hurt the most on her wrist.

"Green!" Blue exclaimed as he straightened himself out from the wall he was just pushed into by the brunette girl herself.

How could she just push him out of the way and take that bite for him?!

When Green responded to his call for her with a whimper of pain, the sound tore straight through Blue as if he was the one who was hit with the Raticate's bite. And what did Blue do when he felt any sort of pain? He lashed out and he had his target right in sight.

"Wartortle, you know what to do!" Blue ordered, his voice darkened menacingly. The turtle pokémon was as angered by the Grunt's tactics as his trainer was and immediately launched its attack on the Grunt and his two pokémon. The Team Rocket trio did not stand a chance against the unleashed fury of Wartortle and Blue. During the attack, some weird headset fell out from the Grunt's bag and Blue caught in time as it bounced down the stairs.

"The Silph Scope!" The Grunt exclaimed, more like groaned, beaten up and laying down on the staircase next to his fainted pokémon.

"What is this?" Blue demanded as he and Wartortle loomed above the Grunt.

"It's supposed to-be able to-identify-unidentifiable-ghost-type-pokémon." The Grunt wheezed out through his pain.

"Huh…that's useful." Blue stated as he turned and ran down the staircase, sufficiently satisfied with the damage he dealt on the Grunt and his pokémon.

"No matter what attack I try, it doesn't work. What do I do now?" Blue overheard Red exclaim to himself.

"Red!" Blue shouted, effectively grabbing the aforementioned teen's attention.

"Use this!" Blue continued and then tossed the device to Red.

"What is this?" Red asked, confused as to what Blue had given him.

"You'll know when you use it." Blue explained vaguely, already have turned his attention to the still crumpled teen girl on the ground. However, Red didn't see Green as he placed the Silph Scope over his head and turned towards the ghost.

"Marowak!" Red exclaimed in surprise as Blue knelt down next to Green.

"Are you ok? Where are you hurt?" Blue asked gently as he brushed Green's hair out of her face to get a good look at her.

"Mainly it's just my wrist, but I'm still a bit disorientated from the fall." Green explained as she tried to move to sit up, Blue helping her. She was surprised by how gentle he was being with her. It was if he was afraid he would break her or hurt her further.

"Ok, I am going to pick you up and get you to the hospital straight away." Blue stated as he then shifted to place his arm around her back and then under her knees.

"What?! No! What about Red and the rest of Team Rocket?" Green protested and weakly tried to push Blue away with her good, non-injured hand.

"If Red knew about your injuries, he would agree with me. If it will make you feel better, I will return and help Red. But, you are going to the hospital right now no matter what." Blue replied, completely serious. Green bit her lip but nodded her head in understanding before she slipped her good arm around Blue's neck and gently cradled her injured wrist against herself.

Blue gave an audible sigh of relief at her compliance and picked her up easily. He walked fast towards the lower staircase and quickly bypassed the running and crying Cubone followed by Reina in hot pursuit. Reina slowed down a bit and opened her mouth at the sight of Blue carrying Green, but Blue kept speed walking and she couldn't let the distressed Cubone out of her sight, so she closed her mouth and sped up to keep up with Cubone.

Green shifted a bit to look over Blue's shoulder and couldn't help but wonder what Cubone and Reina were doing here.

 **~8~**

By the time Blue and Green made it to the hospital, had Green get checked out by a doctor, and Blue learned of the doctor's diagnosis so he could leave Green in the safety of the Lavender Town Hospital, Red had helped Marowak's spirit find peace, defeated the rest of the remaining Team Rocket Grunts, and saved Mr. Fuji. Of course, as soon as Red spied Blue's return and had Blue explain where Green was, Red bolted to the hospital to see Green for himself. Blue, Reina, Cubone, and Mr. Fuji followed after with Mr. Fuji getting his own checkup to make sure there was no complications from his time spent in captivity by Team Rocket.

Red was extremely apologetic for not even noticing Green's injury and subsequent disappearance until after everything had died down, while Mr. Fuji and Reina were apologetic that the young girl had gotten injured in the efforts to save Mr. Fuji. But, Green just waved them off. Green knew that there was the potential of injury when she agreed to face down both a ghost and a nefarious organization of the likes of Team Rocket. Green also knew that Red could be incredibly single-minded. Actually, all three childhood friends from Pallet Town could be extremely single-minded. So, she wasn't upset by Red's obliviousness to her situation and simply thanked Blue for helping her to the hospital.

Blue's concern and care for her well-being just fanned Green's very faint hope that their friendship was not over like she assumed after their separation in Fuchsia City. You didn't feel and act the way Blue did unless you cared a great deal about the person, right?

Of course, Blue blasted Green's gratefulness out of proportion by puffing out his chest and making a snide comment to Red about being Green's hero. Naturally, this had Red indignantly responding back. It soon grew out of control and the two boys had to be escorted out of the hospital by some nurses since they were disturbing the other patients while Green had to remain over night at the hospital to monitor the concussion she received from falling down the stairs.

Mr. Fuji, Reina, and Cubone remained in order to further express their apologies for the situation Green found herself in. Green's only response to their concern was her own happiness that Red was successful overall in helping both Mr. Fuji and Cubone. When Mr. Fuji brought up that she was partially responsible and that he still wasn't sure how to thank the three teens, Green asked if he wouldn't mind allowing her to volunteer at the Pokémon House for a little while as she properly recovers. Mr. Fuji and Reina were a bit surprised by her request, it was quite unusual for someone to basically ask for more work as a reward. Especially when the person was injured and not even out of the hospital yet. But, Green explained that she wanted to have the chance to get to know Mr. Fuji and learn from him as well as to help take care the orphaned and abandoned pokémon who found sanctuary at the Pokémon House. All she wanted to do was help them find peace and bring some happiness in their lives like Red inadvertently had done for Cubone. With a response like that, Mr. Fuji couldn't help but agree to Green's request and Reina was excited to have the time to become Green's friend.

Which is the reason why the next morning Green found herself at the Pokémon House sitting in Cubone's cubicle with Reina standing before her, Mr. Fuji and Red calmly standing outside watching the two girls interact with Cubone.

"When I hold Cubone like this, it's just so warm." Reina couldn't help but sound happy and giddy as she cuddled Cubone close. Cubone was also loving the attention based on the happy cries it emits.

"My turn!" Green childishly exclaimed and held out her arms, wanting to experience the same thing Reina was. Red couldn't help but smile as he watched his best friend coo and giggle at Cubone once it was placed in her lap since she would not be able to properly carry it with one arm. Even though Red himself was discovering just how wonderful pokémon were with each day, Green had always been interested and loved pokémon even before they left on their quest to complete the pokédex. So, it was always something else whenever he got to see Green interact with pokémon and see the pure joy and love on her face.

"Thanks to you and your friends, everything here in our town has returned to normal and, as you can see, Cubone has finally opened up to being with people." Mr. Fuji stated to Red.

"Well, I just…" Red started but trailed off since he was tad embarrassed by all the thanks and attention he was receiving. He was getting more of it than Green was since he was the one to complete the mission singlehandedly.

"Green told me that you three are working on a project. The Pokédex." Mr. Fuji continued, although amused by Red's embarrassment.

"That's right. We're helping Professor Oak in completing it." Red confirmed proudly.

"I see, so you three and Oak, huh? Unfortunately, I fear your quest, individually, to complete the pokédex may fail without love for pokémon. The same kind of love your friend, Green, has. But, I do believe I have something that may assist you. To help you complete that quest." Mr. Fuji explained as he then walked away from Cubone's cubicle. Red gasped, took a quick glance at a rather oblivious Green since her whole attention was on Cubone, before he moved to follow after Mr. Fuji.

What exactly did he have that could help Red love pokémon just as much as Green did?

 **~8~**

It was a little while later, after Red had received two mysterious stones and a pokéflute from Mr. Fuji, that the young man decided it was time to leave Lavender Town before it got dark again. He has had his filled of ghosts for a while. Red straddled his bike as he stood outside the Pokémon House with some volunteers, Reina, Mr. Fuji, Cubone, and Green who were there to see him off.

"Ok, everybody, thanks again for everything! Stay well!" Red exclaimed in farewell, although he directed the last part to Green as he locked eyes with her.

"We promise to take good care of Green as she stays here. However, if you find yourself in trouble, feel free to come see me." Mr. Fuji vowed to Red.

"And come back again, ok?" Reina added as she held Cubone in her arms.

"And don't forget to stay in contact. Hopefully next time we meet up, neither of us will wind up in the hospital." Green finished with a cheeky grin, still making light of her situation. Red simply returned her smile with one of his own and a head nod before he took off on his bike.

He didn't get very far out of Lavender Town before he stopped again.

"Hey! Red!" Blue's voice sounded from above a tree, forcing Red to stop beneath said tree and to look up at his rival.

"Where's Green?" Blue asked in concern. He thought Red wouldn't part with Green so soon after her injury. The only reason why Blue had yet to visit her that day was because he was working on his Get-Well present for her.

"She's staying at the Pokémon House until she fully recovers and I need to get back to our quest to complete the pokédex." Red explained and Blue nodded his head in understanding. There was a beat of silence between the two, but Blue broke it before Red decided to head out again.

"I guess you owe me one." Blue said without preamble.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Red asked, genuinely confused as to what Blue was getting at.

"Thanks to me getting the Silph Scope, you were able to unveil the true identity of the ghost." Blue replied smugly.

"Ha! Which one of us said, 'Hey, Red, let's get outta here! Come on, let's runaway!'" Red mocked with a smug smirk of his own. He was never going to let Blue live that down.

"Your ears were playing tricks on you!" Blue spluttered out defensively.

"I don't think so! I actually heard it loud and clear!" Red chuckled as he then got back on his bike and pedaled away, not caring that Blue was still shouting at him.

"I NEVER SAID SUCH A THING! YOU HEAR ME?! I DID NOT SAY THAT!"

 **~8~**

Blue leaned against the doorframe as he watched Green play tag outside with a small group of pokémon. She probably shouldn't be playing this game, just in case she accidently hit her wrist and hurt it even more. But, Blue couldn't find it in him to interrupt the game.

He could probably wax on poetically about how terrible it would be to ruin the picture of a happy and carefree Green surrounded by equally joyful pokémon. How pretty the whole situation made Green because there is nothing as pretty as a truly delighted Green. Which was all true.

And terribly sappy which Blue isn't, so he wasn't going to say that. Especially, aloud.

But, sappiness aside, the real reason why Blue couldn't bring himself to call out to her was because he was nervous.

Not that he would ever admit that aloud either.

What is happening to him? He was never nervous before.

But, why did Green have to be so beautiful and why did their friendship have to be so strained at the moment?

Everything was so much easier before she looked at him with those big, warm brown eyes that sincerely told him that he was someone she loved, that she wanted to hug and spend time with. Which made his heart beat double time and made the PokéMart they were standing in the middle of seem a dozen degrees hotter than before. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her even if he wanted to try, although that was the furthest thought from his mind at the moment. Then those captivating eyes went further as they displayed the sorrow and pain she felt when she brought up the fact that he was hurting her. When they displayed those emotions, his heart stopped and hardened before falling into his stomach like a lead balloon, making him feel sick and in pain as well. Which was shocking because he has never felt that way before whenever he insulted Green and noticed them hit their mark. Then again, he never saw the magnitude of the pain and sorrow she felt during those times like he did then. Blue didn't have time to recover as Green left with her parting statement about leaving the state of their friendship up to him before she walked away, those blasted warm brown eyes pleading with him until their gaze was broken.

It was safe to say that Blue struggled with his feelings towards Green afterwards.

Who gave her the right to say all of those things to him and make him seem like the bad guy when he was simply giving her a taste of her own medicine?

Who gave her the right to make him _feel_ like the bad guy?

Who gave her the right to make such an ultimatum about their friendship?

Why was he friends with her again?

However, as soon as that thought crossed his mind, Blue's tumultuous and negative feelings towards Green halted to a screeching stop. It would be expected that was when Blue realized and listed all of the amazing reasons why Green was his friend. His best friend. But, that would be wrong. Those unforgiving thoughts and feelings were washed away with the realization that Green was _more_ than just Blue's best friend. So much more. Because just at the thought of him no longer being friends with Green, no longer being able to talk to her, no longer being able to be in her presence, Blue felt even angrier and nauseas. That previous feeling of his heart turning into a lead balloon and relocating to his stomach intensified to the point of being unbearable. He didn't know how or when this happened, but Green held a much bigger part in Blue's world then he initially thought.

He could not write her off like he did with Red. It was just not possible.

And, at this point, he kind of wished it were because how was he going to fix this situation between them? And how could he get her to feel the same as him because clearly she doesn't if she is willing to walk away in Fuchsia City.

It was just not fair that he felt this way and she didn't.

And she obviously cannot know either or else it will be the end for Blue.

UGH!

He blames Green and those despicably captivating brown eyes of hers for the situation he found himself in currently.

"Blue?" The aforementioned girl gasped in surprise and brought him out of his thoughts to see her standing in the middle of the small meadow, the pokémon she was playing with surrounding her and staring at him in puzzlement.

"What are you doing here? I thought you left already." Green continued and was that hope Blue heard in her voice?

What exactly is she hoping for?

"Yeah, well, I was finding your Get-Well present. So, how about we return these pokémon, so I can give it to you in private." Blue explained sounding like his usual cocky self. Unlike Green, Blue knew how to hide his emotions and act like everything was normal. Blue also knew exactly what to say to grab Green's attention unequivocally.

"Ok!" Green exclaimed enthusiastically and giddily. There is nothing that brought out Green's inner child more than the mention of presents. Quicker than Blue would have liked, because he was still trying to figure out exactly what to say to Green once he gave her his present, the two childhood friends found themselves alone after returning the pokémon to the Reina and the other volunteers at the Pokémon House. Green was looking up at Blue in excitement and curiosity that had Blue feeling like he was sinking into her eyes, nearly forgetting what they were doing again.

"Blue?" Green called out.

"Oh, sorry. I just…Here." Blue stumbled a bit when he got caught staring so obviously by the girl in question. He covered his embarrassment by shoving a pokéball into her hands. If Green wasn't excited before, then she was practically thrilled now as she took in the red and white orb in her hand. She raised it, just about to throw it to reveal the pokémon inside when Blue grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Wait! It's a Pidgeotto." Blue explained quickly and Green nearly dropped the pokéball as she gaped at Blue.

"Why would you give me a Pidgeotto?!" She squeaked in surprise and anxiety.

"Because you need it to complete the pokédex. If you can't catch one, or any other bird type pokémon, then I will catch it for you." Blue stated roughly and Green's mouthed dropped.

"You – What?" Green spluttered.

"Do I really have to repeat myself?" Blue said through gritted teeth. This was not the reaction he was hoping for from her. It made him think this whole thing was a mistake and he definitely did not like being wrong.

But, in the next moment, all of Blue's irritation was wiped away as he felt Green's arms wrap around him and he inhaled her floral scent. As he breathed out, Blue would deny it was a sigh of relief, he returned her embrace wholeheartedly. Blue would also deny that he hadn't been wanting to hug Green ever since their talk in Fuchsia City. He didn't realize how long it had been since they last hugged but it was before they even left on their pokémon journey and he missed the feeling. Perhaps it was because of the anticipation and because of how long it had been since they last hugged, but this one seemed better than any hug before to Blue. He didn't want to let go, even as Green pulled away. So, she was forced to lean back but not leave the embrace she initiated.

"Thank you. You didn't have to and I really do appreciate it." Green replied with a brilliant smile that started to pull one from Blue. However, that small smile froze when he saw Green lean in and then felt something soft lightly press against his cheek.

Did she really just kiss him?

It was on the cheek but, still….

Did she really just kiss him?

"Do you have time to hang around for a little while? We need to catch up." Green asked with a light blush staining her cheeks and an embarrassed smile tugging on her lips. Blue nodded dumbly, still focused on the feeling on his cheek from her kiss. It didn't help that Green's shy smile reverted back to its original brilliant smile as she pulled away from Blue, but still held his hand in her non-injured one, and then tugged him to a bench.

Blue could barely keep up with her fast-paced chatting as she told him everything she has seen and experienced since they had first set foot from Pallet Town. Blue barely even acknowledged that she had caught a Pikachu on Route 2 which she has nicknamed Sparky and has been using to catch bird pokémon, rendering his gift to her useless. Perhaps at any other time he would have been irritated by this information, at his perfect gift being ruined. However, this wasn't that moment. He was too preoccupied by something else, by one question.

Did she really just kiss him?


End file.
